TMNT 2003: Mikey, the Dragon of Light
by Clovee93
Summary: Takes place during the Lost Season of TMNT 2003 and after the acolytes discovered their inner animal spirits. After a mission goes slightly wrong during the search for one of the Demon Shredder's artefacts, Mikey is given the full blame, causing him to flee from the group. Will the group be able to continue without him, and can Mikey prove that he is more useful than they think?
1. Chapter 1-A Brother Blamed

Mikey, the Dragon of Light

_Takes place during the Lost Season of TMNT 2003 and after the acolytes discovered their inner animal spirits._

_After a mission goes slightly wrong during the search for one of the Demon Shredder's artefacts, Mikey is immediately given the full blame, causing him to flee from the group. Will the group be able to continue without him, and can Mikey prove that he too is more useful than everyone thinks?_

_I do not own TMNT 2003._

_/_

Chapter 1-A Brother Blamed

"I can't believe you, Mikey!" Raph shouted as he turned around to face the said turtle after everyone found a safe place to catch their breath from the last battle that they barely escaped from not long after they arrived at their destination.

"You and your ridiculous, cocky show-offs almost got us killed once again!" Raph continued on with his rage boiling. He was ticked off because Mikey accidentally gave away their position to the enemies on the island when he was only trying to show his brothers and friends how much he had improved on his acolyte training so far, resulting in a near-death experience with everyone escaping with cuts and bruises.

"Bro, I told you that I'm sorry, I can't go back in time and fix what was already done. Besides, you told me to show you what I can do now, so don't pin all the blame on me!" Mikey said in order to defend himself since everyone was looking at him with frustration and disappointed looks on their faces.

"That may be true, Michelangelo, but this has happened more than once before, with you causing the issues during our missions and making us pay the price," Joi said firmly as she walked over to Mikey.

"Now hold on a minute-" Donnie tried to ask what Joi meant by that and say his piece on what his thoughts were about Mikey's actions, but Torra cut him off.

"That's right, Leonardo and Faragi wouldn't have had to risk almost losing their lives if you had just stayed with the group and planned it out first instead of trying to recklessly show off."

Leo and Faragi looked on in shock, Leo mostly. Even though he wasn't happy with how Mikey performed in the battle they just escaped from, he really didn't like how his teammates were bringing up the past whilst they scold and gang up on Mikey.

"Stop right there, that was our first ever mission as acolytes! You can't expect us to complete the mission without problems. Look, I know Mikey shouldn't have done what he did earlier but you shouldn't bring the past back into this, because he is learning from that." Leo said as he stepped into the argument with Faragi who was stood next to him and nodded in agreement, much to Mikey's surprise.

"Back off, Leo! How would you know if Mikey really has learned from back then, because by the looks of it, he hasn't!" Raph shouted back at Leo before he turned to Donnie. "What about you, Donnie? You know I'm right, don't ya?"

"I…" Donnie didn't know what to say after hearing what had already been said, but after looking at the encouraging smile he got from his friend Adam, he composed himself after he took a deep breath before he started speaking again.

"You're partly right, Raph. Mikey, even though you are doing your best during training and missions, you're still not taking things as seriously as you're supposed to. Someone…could have been seriously hurt or worse today, because of your actions…," Donnie said to Mikey in the most careful way possible since he knew how his little brother gets when he is berated for his mess-ups.

Mikey couldn't believe his ears; Donnie, his immediate older brother and best friend, was against him too!?

He looked at everyone with his widened eyes to see them with expressions on their faces that showed that they agreed with what was said against him, with the exception of Leo, Adam, and Faragi looking down in disappointment. Mikey opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by a still angry Raph.

"Don't even think about making another excuse to make everyone feel bad for ya, Mikey, cos it ain't gonna work on me or any of us! You're nothing but trouble, I don't even know why the Tribunal didn't kick you out when you first screwed up!"

"Raph, don't cut your brother off like that! Let him speak!" Leo stepped in and shouted at Raph after seeing his youngest brother get silenced very harshly by him.

"He ain't no brother of mine anymore!" Everyone gasped and looked at Raph as he breathed heavily after he shouted his last sentence before they turned to Mikey.

Mikey looked like he just got stabbed very hard in the gut and was shaking badly. He then looked down as tears began to develop in his eyes.

"Oh, no…Mikey…?" Donnie called out to his little brother softly after seeing how he wasn't fighting back and was in shock, before slowly taking a step forward towards him. As he was about to take another step, however, Mikey looked back up and slightly turned his face towards him, causing Donnie's heart to break after seeing the sad but frustrated expression on his face.

"Don't…it's fine…" he whispered firmly whilst trying but failing to prevent his tears from falling before he spoke again.

"You have a mission to finish, right? Get going…"

He then turned around with his back towards the group, and then his body glowed with orange-coloured markings. Leo knew what this meant; Mikey was activating his spiritual energy.

"Wait…Mikey, what are you-" he said but he was cut off.

"See you back at the boat…" Mikey said tearfully before he used his power to run at lightning speed towards the boat's location, leaving a shroud of dust behind him.


	2. Chapter 2-A Strained Brotherly Oath

Chapter 2-A Strained Brotherly Oath

As the dust cleared, the group finds Mikey now long gone. Leo came back to his senses in a matter of seconds after letting everything that just happened sink in before turning to look at Raph with angry, narrowed eyes.

"You and your despicable anger, Raph! Do you know what you just said to our little brother, who we swore by our oath as brothers to protect many years ago!?" He shouted as he slowly walked towards Raph, who was trying to calm himself down after his earlier outburst towards Mikey.

"Hey, I'm not da only one who felt da same way as me about Mikey, Leo, so don't pin dis all on me!" Raph shouted back in defence before Donnie stepped in.

"I know, Raph. I admit my part in scolding Mikey earlier, but Leo is right; we all made a brotherly oath to protect our baby brother, no matter what, and we just caused a strain in that oath by ganging up on him and not giving him a chance to explain himself."

"Yeah, I saw it all. The poor guy hardly got a word in and we pinned everything on him when he didn't mean to give away our position back there," Adam said to back Donnie up.

Everyone else nodded in agreement, realizing now that they were all wrong to pile all the blame on Mikey since what happened was accidental. It was then that a thought came into Leo's head and he turned to Raph again and asked him an important question.

"Come to think of it, Mikey said that you asked him to show off his newly-learned skills before the incident happened. Is that true?"

Raph took a moment to think back on what happened before the fight broke out and then his eyes widened; he _did _ask Mikey to perform a certain technique, but only as part of a bet to prove that he couldn't do it better than he did during their training. With this in mind, Raph looked down as he instantly felt a heavy wave of guilt suddenly hit him in the chest. "Ah, shell…" He said with a sigh and then nodded a 'yes' to confirm it, much to everyone's shock.

"So, it was true…, and you thought that it was alright to take all your anger out on your own brother just to avoid taking the blame yourself. That was a selfish act, Raphael!" Faragi said in anger and shock from Raph's confession.

"Calm down, Faragi, Raph knows now that what he did was wrong. All he needs to do now is to go and talk to Mikey and apologize to him," Leo said after placing a calming hand on Faragi's shoulder.

"No offence, Leo, but I doubt Mikey would want to speak to Raph or to any of us after what we did to him earlier," Joi said in a sad tone before Torra spoke next.

"Besides, Michelangelo said himself that we have a mission to complete, so we should respect his wish for us to continue on without him."

"But the question is; _Can _we do this without him?" Donnie said worriedly.

"Donnie, you and the others go on ahead. I'm going to go find Mikey and talk to him just to make sure that he's okay. Don't worry, I'll catch up with you," Leo instructed his brother before he started his journey back to the boat.

Raph watched on as his oldest brother disappeared into the forest in the same direction where Mikey ran away, before looking down slightly with regret in his eyes.

'I'm sorry, Mike,' he mentally said before he started to walk with the others to their next location.


	3. Chapter 3-Questioning Roles

Chapter 3-Questioning Roles

_Mikey's side…_

Around half an hour had passed after Mikey arrived back to where the boat was docked without any problems, and since then he had been an emotional mess. When he arrived earlier, Mikey immediately collapsed on his knees and tried to catch his breath, but instead, he just covered his face with his hands and broke down crying.

He just couldn't believe the way everyone ganged up on him and blamed him for everything that happened in their earlier battle, but what made it worse was that they brought the past mission up and made it sound like Mikey would be the cause of everyone's downfall because of what happened to Leo and Faragi.

Then again, Mikey thought back to his past missions with his brothers and father/sensei in New York City;

He remembered a time when they were battling the Shredder after their return to New York from Casey's Farmhouse when Leo got badly wounded from the Foot's ambush, and he saw Master Splinter take a hit from the Shredder that was meant for him, which caused him to fall out of the Foot building and disappear without any traces of knowing where he was taken.

He then remembered when they battled the Shredder in his spaceship and he was left immobile after both of his legs were broken by the Shredder, resulting in his father to take another hit for him once again since he couldn't move. There were also times where he hardly got seriously involved in training and he would only focus on joking around which caused distractions during fights.

Mikey thought that those memories were enough to make him realise just how right Raph was; his role and purpose in the family and ninja team were rarely of any help to those he cares about, no matter how hard he tried to do better. He even thought that he should have been the one to have undergone a secondary mutation instead of Donnie since he doubted anyone would miss him if he was beyond saving in his monstrous form.

He too was surprised that the Ninja Tribunal didn't kick him out or let him die during lessons.

"Why…why am I seen as the less important family member…the useless ninja…?" Mikey said miserably whilst hiccupping before he lifted his head up to the sky and shouted, "WHY ME!?"

Mikey then curled himself into a ball whilst sitting up on the shore and continued to sob, not caring if any enemies heard his yelling or if anyone from his group was following after him when he took off earlier.

_/_

_Leo's side..._

Leo ran as fast as he could to try and get to his little brother before any more monstrous creatures could appear and attack either him or himself during the process.

Whilst he was running, he couldn't help but feel awful for Mikey. Even though he wasn't happy with how his youngest brother would easily be tempted to show off during an important mission, he knew that there were more ways to show Mikey how he was wrong to do so than ganging up on him and making him feel like he would never be useful to anyone. What was worse was that one of his own brothers, Raphael, who would always protect his baby brother and sometimes joke around with him, told Mikey in front of him that he was no longer his brother, without even thinking about how this would affect him.

Leo knew that Raph's anger would dominate over his true feelings towards others, causing him to speak without thinking about what to say first, which would result in causing a fight or hurting someone's feelings. However, Leo believed that Raph never meant to hurt anyone physically or emotionally and he would do anything to atone for his actions, especially if it involved Mikey, who would always try very hard to calm him down and keep the positive vibes going even through the hardest of times.

"_WHY ME!?_"

Leo was suddenly cut off from his thoughts and stopped when he heard a familiar voice shout out loudly in the far distance. It sounded hurt and upset.

"Mikey…?" Leo said quietly before darting off again towards the direction of his brother's voice.


	4. Chapter 4-Wise Words and Visions

Chapter 4-Wise Words and Visions

Leo soon reached the shore of the island where the boat was docked and looked around for any signs of his brother. Then, he spotted his little brother near the boat, but what he saw broke his heart; Mikey was sitting with his knees brought up to his chest with his arms folded on top of them and his face was hidden from view in his folded arms, but the sounds of sobbing and hiccupping could be heard despite this.

Leo started to slowly approach his little brother so that he wouldn't frighten him and be mistaken as a monster, but years of ninja training have allowed their senses to detect even the smallest presence around them and Mikey swiftly lifted his head up to see who was there, but then calmed down slightly when he saw his big brother Leo before looking away to hide his embarrassed and sad face.

"Hey…It's alright, Mikey. I just wanted to talk to you and to make sure you're ok," Leo said softly as he slowly got closer to his little brother and sat down next to him.

"Why did you come after me, Leo? I'm just…holding you back in the mission… like I always do," Mikey said sadly without looking at his brother and was instead looking at the sea view as he spoke.

"Don't be silly, little brother, you have never held me or any of us back during missions," Leo said as he placed a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder.

"But… I keep making things worse and harder for you and everyone else. I'm trying so hard to be a better ninja…to be a better brother and son…But…I can't… I'll never..." Mikey said this before suddenly breaking down and hiding his face in his hands. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…!"

Leo immediately engulfed Mikey into a hug. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from his little brother when he started to berate himself because he was led to believe that the Mikey everyone knew now was not good enough for them. The feeling of guilt hit Leo hard when he realised that this all happened because no one thought twice about letting his little brother explain or defend himself when they were giving him the full blame of what happened earlier, and he'll bet that Raph will be feeling the same since he didn't confess his part in the incident sooner.

"Shhh…it's ok, little brother…it's ok…" Leo said softly whilst he gently rocked his brother back and forth and gently patted his brother's shell to try and calm him back down again.

A few minutes passed and the only sounds that Leo heard from Mikey were tearful sniffles and hiccups, meaning that he was starting to calm down. His little brother then looked up to wipe away his tears and turned his face to Leo who slightly loosened the hug so that he could see him properly.

"Why… would you comfort a screw-up like me? I don't deserve it…and you should be mad at me like the others…I almost got you killed back then…" Mikey asked his brother in a raspy voice due to the amount of crying he did.

Leo gave him a warm smile before he spoke. "Mikey, you're not a screw-up and you didn't put my life at risk. Even though what you did wasn't necessary for the mission at hand, you never intended to put us in harm's way on purpose. Also, the way you performed that move was really impressive, Mikey, you're doing really well in your training."

"B-But…Raph… a-and the others…think that-" Mikey said in a stammer before Leo cut him off.

"The things that Raph said to you were not his true words, Mikey; they were words filled with anger, that of which he couldn't control. Also, the others only said the things they said because they were confused and unsure of who to believe the most. Raph and Donnie still and always will love you, Mikey, they just want to make sure that you're safe and unharmed, and I would feel and do the same because that's what big brothers do."

Mikey looked at Leo in surprise and shock. He didn't expect one of his older brothers to say such kind words to him despite the circumstances of his actions and behaviour, but there was still something bothering him to a point where a heavy sensation was felt in his chest.

"Thanks, Leo. I would do anything to help you guys too, but the thing is...my role as both a ninja and a family member is not as important as yours, Raph's or Donnie's…" Mikey said as he looked down and avoided eye contact with his brother.

"What makes you think that?" Leo asked with a ridged eyebrow.

"Well, your role involves being the leader of the team and making sure that we're safe and there for each other as a family. Raph's role involves protecting us from harm's way and staying strong for us despite his unpredictable anger, and Donnie's role involves solving problems and keeping a level head which has always been an essential part of the team. You guys can function so well without me and the colours red and blue make purple. Me? I'm just a random colour and I hardly do anything useful or vital, but instead, I just get in the way and mess everything up…" Mikey said before more tears began to develop in his eyes, but they didn't fall yet.

"Oh, Mikey…that's not true. You are way more important than you might think." Leo said after he gently lifted his brother's chin up to look at him face-to-face.

"Really…? How…?" Mikey questioned him with a look of uncertainty.

"Well, for starters-"

"You are our family's light, my son."

Leo was cut off by another familiar voice echoing in the area around him, and both he and Mikey turned around to see their sensei and father with the Ancient One walking behind them from a portal that faded as soon as they appeared through it.

"Master Splinter, Ancient One, what are you doing here?" Leo asked with a surprised look on his face.

"I sensed that one of my sons was in deep sorrow and low in spirit, so I asked the Ancient One to take me to him so that I could speak with him," Master Splinter explained as he looked over to Mikey, who lowered his head down in shame. "Michelangelo, it is alright, there is no need to be ashamed of how you are feeling right now…" he said to his youngest son before placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Master Splinter…what did you mean when you said that I'm 'the family's light'?" Mikey asked quietly before looking back up to find his sensei smiling warmly towards him.

"My son, I understand that you are troubled and feeling down due to how your role is being questioned by negative emotions around you, but have you ever thought about the _positive_ side to your actions?" Master Splinter said.

Mikey tried to come up with an answer to that by thinking back to when his role and purpose has made a positive impact on the family and team, but he couldn't think of anything and just shook his head slowly with tears falling down his face. That's when Leo stepped in to answer that for him.

"You help us to spend more time together as a family by encouraging us to watch movies and play video games to give us a break from our serious and busy routines, as well as making sure that we are eating well by making us amazing meals with your great cooking skills, cos trust me; none of us can make a decent meal without blowing up the kitchen," Leo said before smiling even more after he made Mikey chuckle lightly to that last sentence. "You even help us feel less tense and nervous by making the missions more fun with your movie-like stunts and comments, which are amazing and funny to watch by the way, and they help to ensure that you are doing fine in fights. Your smile is also very contagious, Mikey, cos it helps us to feel positive instead of thinking about the negatives all the time. Master Splinter is right, little brother; you are our family's light which brightens even through the darkest of times."

Mikey was left in disbelief with widened eyes as he looked back and forth from his brother to his sensei, before giving Leo a hug, which he returned greatly before releasing him a moment later to say one more thing.

"We all make mistakes, Mikey, and that's ok because it's a way of helping us to improve ourselves as we grow in life. Look at me, for example; if I hadn't have met Oroku Saki, I wouldn't have exposed you all to the Foot clan and put you all in danger after finding out he was Master Yoshi's murderer and was known as the Shredder."

"But what difference would that have made, Leo? We all would have encountered him and the Foot one day eventually at some part in our lives, no matter what happens or who meets him first," Mikey said in denial.

Those words made everyone around Mikey look at him with surprised expressions on their faces before they smiled proudly at him before Leo spoke again.

"You're exactly right, Mikey; it wouldn't have made a difference if I didn't meet the Shredder back then, because we would still encounter him at some point in our lives, no matter what, because it could happen to anyone at any time. You see, little brother? You are smarter and braver than you let on, and the colour of our masks represent our strengths and personalities; your colour orange represents light, joy, and creativity, which is definitely you. We're really fortunate to have someone like you as a brother, a son, and a friend."

"I agree with Leonardo, my son; those are very wise words that you have said," Master Splinter said.

"Indeed they are," The Ancient One said in agreement.

Mikey didn't say anything due to feeling gobsmacked from what Leo just said, so he just gave his oldest brother a smile and another hug, which Leo happily returned, as Master Splinter and the Ancient One watched on with a smile.

A moment later, the Ancient One spoke up. "I believe that it is time for you to return to the others and at the task at hand."

Leo released Mikey and they both nodded, but just as they stood up from sitting on the ground, Mikey suddenly held his head with both hands and yelled in pain. "Argh!"

"Mikey, you ok!?" Leo said in concern as he held his brother upright, but Mikey didn't respond as he was visually surrounded by a white light before a familiar scene was shown in front of him;

_The scene included his other two brothers and their friends walking in a forest, and then they were surrounded by a large group of dark demon-like creatures. Everyone prepares themselves with their weapons in hand before the creatures' charge towards them all at once._

_The turtles and the other acolytes struggle to keep up with the numbers as they sustain serious injuries during the battle. Then a larger creature, which resembles a cross between a dragon and a wolf, appears and roars before it raises a sharp-clawed hand in the air, and the vision ends…_

"NO!" Mikey shouted out as he opened his eyes and looked up to find a concerned Leo next to him with his arms around him and keeping him from collapsing, and Master Splinter and the Ancient One were standing on the other side of him with worried looks on their faces.

"Mikey? What's wrong?" Leo asked him worriedly.

"I-I…" Mikey struggled to say more about what he just saw as he continued to hold his head until the light-headed feeling went away, but he didn't have to because the Ancient One answered for him.

"I believe Michelangelo has just experienced a vision, also known as a premonition." This made Leo and Master Splinter gasp as their eyes widened.

"Michelangelo, what did you see?" Master Splinter asked Mikey in a serious but soft tone.

"My brothers and the others…in a forest…an ambush with those dark creature thingies…and then something dark and big…about to strike them down…" Mikey explained with fear and concern before looking up at his brother. "We have to hurry and get back to them, Leo. I don't know when my vision will come true but it looks like it could happen soon!"

"Alright, let's go!" Leo said before running ahead with Mikey, Master Splinter and the Ancient One following him from behind.


	5. Chapter 5-Regrets and an Ambush!

Chapter 5-Regrets and an Ambush!

Meanwhile…

The acolytes continued their walk towards their pinpointed destination, and so far, they reached a dense forest full of tall trees and small flower-filled bushes.

Raph was walking from behind with a sad but frustrated look on his face since he was too busy thinking about the way he treated Mikey earlier to focus on what's going on around him. Donnie noticed this first and slowed down his pace to walk next to him.

"You alright, Raph?" Donnie asked him in a concerned tone.

"What da ya think, Brainiac?" Raph replied in annoyance.

"I'll take that as a 'no', and you're thinking about what happened with Mikey earlier, right?" Donnie theoretically answered with a sad smile.

Raph sighed before he responded. "I messed up real bad, Donnie. I can't believe dat I let my anger do da talking, again…"

"You're not the only one who feels guilty, Raph; most of the other acolytes felt the same way, and I also hurt him verbally by saying that his actions earlier could have cost lives..." Donnie said with a guilty look on his face.

"Yeah, well ya wouldn't have had ta say dat if I hadn't forced ya all ta take my side, bro," Raph said as he looked at Donnie with an apologetic frown.

"Don't worry about it, Raph. You know now that what you did and said to Mikey was wrong, and that you want to make amends with him. I'm sure that he will accept your apology and forgive you when Leo comes back to us with him." Donnie said with a warm smile, meaning that he had accepted his sign of apology.

Raph smiled back and wrapped an arm around his immediate younger brother's shoulders, with Donnie doing the same with Raph, before saying, "Thanks, bro."

"Wait…do you hear that?" Faragi halted everyone after he heard a rustling noise coming from a bush that was a few feet away from the group.

By the time all the acolytes gathered together in the middle of the forest clearing and took out their weapons, the rustling got louder and suddenly a large group of dark demonic creatures jumped out to stand in front of the group and growled at them.

"Oh, Shell…" Donnie said in a nervous tone.

"What do we do?" asked Adam, before the creatures lunged forward all at once to attack.

"Fight!" Shouted Raph as he struck down the first few demons with his Banrai weapon.

Everyone followed Raph's lead and attacked the demons with all their might, including the use of both their weapons and their spirit animal avatars. The demons were able to land a few lucky shots on the acolytes though, which involved cuts and bruises, but they were still easily defeated.

Just as the acolytes thought that they would be victorious, the demon numbers began to increase again but with bigger and stronger demons. Raph and Donnie tried their best to defeat them whilst the others dealt with the smaller demons, but they were easily knocked off their feet and pinned down to the floor, and their weapons were thrown far away from their reach.

"No!" Donnie shouted in a panic as he struggled to get free.

"Get off, ya freak show!" Raph yelled as he also tried to get free, but to no avail.

Everyone else wanted to go and help the two turtles, but the large demon numbers were making it difficult to do both tasks at the same time.

Before all seemed lost, however, a flash of orange light zoomed by and struck the two larger demons so hard that they fell backward whilst letting go of Raph and Donnie before going limp on the ground.

The battle came to a sudden halt and when Raph and Donnie sat up and looked ahead from where they were pinned down to find out what was going on, they too were left in awe of what they saw;

The one who struck down the two large demons was Mikey, who was standing on top of one of them with his chi markings still glowing on his body.

"Mikey…?" Donnie said in a surprised tone.

Mikey turned around to see his brothers. "You guys ok?" he said before he went to help them up just as Leo, Master Splinter and the Ancient One appeared soon after.

"Master Splinter, Ancient One, what are you…?" Donnie asked before Leo jumped in. "We'll tell you later, but right now let's deal with these demons first!" Everyone nodded in agreement and the battle resumed.

As time went on, most of the acolytes were starting to show signs of fatigue due to their injuries, especially Leo who sustained a slash wound to his left leg that was bleeding a lot, and the demon numbers were still large even though it stopped growing.

Mikey looked on with worry; he had already seen this before in a vision that he had not long ago but he knew that it would only get worse if he didn't do something. Not taking any chances, Mikey ran towards the middle of an empty space slightly away from the fight and then shouted out to the others.

"Everyone, gather around me!" His brothers and the other acolytes looked at him and then at each other, before nodding and running towards Mikey.

Once he knew that everyone was near him, Mikey began to activate his spiritual energy and then jumped up high with his Inazuma weapon in hand.

"Let's go, Inazuma!" He shouted out before spinning around rapidly and shooting a shower of energy waves towards the demons. He kept on going for a couple of minutes despite the others looking on in concern that Mikey might collapse from severe exhaustion if he didn't stop soon. However, they then looked on in awe after seeing that the demon numbers were quickly diminishing to a point where there were none left at all.

Sensing this change, Mikey gradually stopped spinning and slowly began to descend towards the ground. Once he landed, his chi spirit energy faded and he suddenly collapsed onto his hands and knees whilst breathing heavily.

"Mikey!" "My son!" His brothers and sensei were there with him in an instant. "Are you ok, bro? You look like you're about to pass out any minute!" Donnie said in concern after checking him over for any serious injuries.

"I'll…be ok…I just…need a minute…" Mikey breathed as he tried to catch his breath and regain his composure.

"Looks like ya need more than a minute, Mike," Raph said as he noticed how exhausted his little brother really was, before helping him up by taking one of Mikey's arms and placing it around his shoulders and then wrapping his arm around Mikey's back, since he was still feeling guilty from how he treated him earlier and he wanted to talk to him later anyway.

"Thanks…" Mikey said quietly due to not only the exhaustion but also feeling unsure about how he should speak to the brother who said that he wasn't his brother anymore.

"No problem, Mike," Raph said, knowing that he needed to take things one baby step at a time with his brother in order to receive his forgiveness.

"I believe that we should find shelter so that we can rest and recover before we can continue with the mission," Master Splinter advised after he saw everyone looking injured and exhausted.

"You're right, Master Splinter. Let's get going," Leo said in agreement before he began to walk towards the forest exit, with everyone following him slowly with sore and aching bodies.

What they didn't notice before they left the forest completely was that a very large shadowy beast was watching them leave before he faded into the trees near the exit to continue observing them before planning its next move.


	6. Chapter 6-Shelter and Forgiveness

Chapter 6-Shelter and Forgiveness

The acolytes had been walking for the past 15 minutes; Donnie was walking with scratches on his body, whilst helping Leo walk after he began to feel dizzy due to blood loss from his leg wound, and a bruised up Raph was still helping a tired-looking Mikey who remained quiet since they left the forest. The others, on the other hand, had aching muscles as well as small cuts and bruises all over their bodies, so they too walked at a slower pace.

"Hey, look over there!" Adam said before pointing at something far in front of him.

Everyone followed in the direction that Adam was pointing at and their eyes widened; just over a mile away they saw a tall castle-like watchtower that seemed to have a few bricks missing but still looked sturdy and secure enough to live in, and next to it was a well and a log storage area for supplying and storing wooden logs to be used for creating a warm fire inside the tower.

"It's perfect! Good job, Adam!" Donnie complimented his friend with a relieved smile, which Adam returned.

"Yes, we can even keep a lookout for enemies whilst we rest," Faragi said in agreement.

"Then, let us go inside and settle in before it gets dark," Master Splinter said before heading towards the old building with everyone else following him from behind.

Once they got inside after gathering some of the logs from the storage area outside, the acolytes went upstairs from the entrance to the first floor that's halfway up the tower, where they found a seating area with a fire pit in the middle of the room.

After getting a fire started, everyone took a seat around the pit and began to treat their wounds using the water from the well, which was found to be working still, and clean bandages that Donnie had on hand and what they found leftover in the tower.

With everyone patched up, they sat in silence for a moment to take in what had happened during the mission so far whilst drinking some herbal tea that Master Splinter provided for everyone before Raph turned to Mikey.

"Hey, Mike…I want ta apologise ta ya fa making everyone put the full blame on ya fa what happened ta us earlier. I was stubborn and I let my anger do all da talking instead of taking da blame, and I never should've yelled at ya and told ya dat ya not my brother anymore, cos dat was uncalled for..." He said with an apologetic look on his face.

"It's ok, Raph…trust me; you had every right to say what you said back there…I shouldn't have let my cockiness and overconfidence get the better of me. Besides, I doubt anyone would want a mess-everything-up goofball like me as a brother anyway…" Mikey said sadly before he looked down from looking at Raph to hide the developing tears in his eyes.

"That's not true, little brother, you're a fun and great person to be with. We never should have ganged up on you like that, and I'm sorry for my part in the argument as well," Donnie said with a sad smile.

"Yeah, and we shouldn't have brought the past back up and into the argument. That was wrong of us and we all know that you are trying really hard to improve from your past mistakes," Joi said in agreement.

Mikey looked up at them with an astounded look on his face after hearing this. "R-really…?"

"Yes, and you came back and saved our lives with the moves that you have learned during our training, despite the way we treated you," Torra answered with a smile, which Mikey returned with tears rolling down his face before he looked down again and spoke in a shaky voice.

"Well, the reason why I came back to you guys as fast as I did back there was that…I saw the battle that was about to happen…in a vision…"

Everyone but Leo, Master Splinter and the Ancient One gasped in shock but also in surprise.

"Are you serious, Mikey…?" Donnie said with wide eyes.

"How's dat possible…!? I thought dat those who get dat kinda stuff was mainly Leo or Master Splinter!" Raph questioned as he looked from Mikey to Leo and Master Splinter.

"Master Splinter, the Ancient One and I witnessed Mikey having a vision with our own eyes, Raph. He was gripping his head and was groaning in pain during the process, and I had to steady him whilst he was going through it all since there was a chance that he would pass out after the vision had ended," Leo explained with Master Splinter and the Ancient One nodding in confirmation to say that it was true.

"It is possible that Michelangelo's intuition and spiritual abilities have grown stronger over time as the training continued and his strong desire to be there for those he loves may have helped to trigger the premonition that he had experienced not long ago," The Ancient One theorised, leaving the others speechless.

"Wow…that's amazing…" Said Joi in awe as she looked at Mikey with a surprised look on her face.

"Yes, and it was Michelangelo's vision and swift movements that saved us all back in the forest. Thank you, Michelangelo, from all of us," Faragi said before giving Mikey a smile of gratitude, with Joi, Torra, and Adam doing the same.

"Yeah, Thanks, little bro…", "Thank you, Mikey!" Raph and Donnie both said before Raph wrapped an arm around Mikey's shoulders to give him a sideways hug, whilst Donnie gave him a full hug after Raph let go.

"Do you see now, Mikey? You're a lot more important to us than you say you are, and you have just shown us that today." Leo reminded his little brother with a warm smile.

Mikey returned the smile before he looked at everyone. "Thanks, guys, that means a lot to me, and I forgive you all. Let's make tomorrow a new day and get this mission done!" He said and raised his cup high.

"Yeah!" Everyone shouted and raised their cups with Mikey's in high spirits. A moment later, Master Splinter spoke up.

"Now, you should get some rest, so that you are all refreshed and prepared for the journey ahead."

"Yes, Master Splinter, but someone needs to take the first watch and then switch over after 2 hours to ensure that we're safe while we sleep," Leo said.

"I will do the first watch, Leo," Mikey said as he stood up from where he sat, though he swayed a bit after doing so.

"I think you should rest first, Mikey, you still look exhausted from the last battle we had," Leo said softly to his little brother, but Mikey just waved off his concerns before he said, "Don't worry, Leo, I'll only be sitting and looking at the view around me for any dark and shadowy-looking baddies, and I will let you know right away if I spot anything like that."

Although still against the idea of letting Mikey take the first watch, Leo sighed in defeat knowing that his little brother would not back down without a fight. "Alright, Mikey, but you will do it for only an hour instead."

Mikey nodded with understanding and then set off up the stairs to the lookout point at the top of the tower after saying 'goodnight' to everyone.

After seeing Mikey off, everyone went to get a blanket and pillow each from an old storage room and then chose a space to sleep on. Soon, the acolytes began to fall asleep, unaware that the dark presence from earlier was slowly about to put its plan into action.


	7. Chapter 7-Surrounded!

Chapter 7-Surrounded!

2 hours later…

Raph woke up suddenly and thought that, by now, Mikey would have come down from his turn on lookout duty and switch with the next person who volunteered to go next after Mikey, and that was him.

However, time was up over an hour ago and there was still no sign of him, so Raph thought to himself about going up there and letting him know that it was time to switch places.

Making up his mind, Raph got up and quietly left the others to avoid waking them up and then headed up the stairs to the lookout point. Once he was up there, he found Mikey who was sitting on the edge of the tower and looking from left to right with tired eyes to make sure that nothing bad or evil was around, and not noticing that Raph was standing behind him.

Raph slowly approached his little brother and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, which caused Mikey to jump and turn around quickly, but he calmed down after seeing his red-banded brother looking at him with a smirk.

"Hey Raph…, I'm guessing it's your turn to keep watch now?" Mikey said tiredly whilst he carefully stepped down from the edge of the tower.

"Yeah…, but I also came ta check on ya since ya didn't come down ta switch with me when your time was up," Raph answered before he asked him a question in a concerned tone. "Are ya sure ya ok, bro?"

Mikey looked at Raph with a sad smile before answering. "Yeah, I'm ok…, I just thought that I'd stay and keep watch for a little longer to make up for my actions earlier. If I hadn't been so childish and careless during the mission and then ran off because I couldn't face the music like a real ninja, our position wouldn't have been exposed and you wouldn't have gotten ambushed heavily in the forest earlier. I'm sorry…" By the time he finished speaking, Mikey sniffled and looked away as tears began to develop in his tired eyes.

After hearing his brother's heart-breaking speech, Raph looked at Mikey in shock. He couldn't stand to see his baby brother so upset, especially since he himself caused him to be like this in the first place, so he immediately engulfed him into a hug before he spoke.

"Hey…, Shhh…, it's alright, bro. I told ya it wasn't your fault, it was mine. Ya may be an annoying knucklehead at times, but you're a great ninja as well as an awesome little brother, and I would do anything to keep ya safe from harm, just like how you would do da same fa us."

Mikey returned the hug and then cried with his face buried in Raph's shoulder after he heard what his brother just said to him. Raph didn't pull away but instead, he let his baby brother release all of his sadness from the recent events, which he had bottled up inside until now, onto his shoulder. "Let it all out, bro…, it's ok…" Raph said whilst looking out at the view in front of him to keep an eye out for intruders.

A few minutes went by, and Raph was starting to hear Mikey beginning to settle down with only the sounds of sniffling and hiccupping remaining. Then, Mikey slowly lifted his head from Raph's shoulder and Raph gently released him from the hug to allow him to wipe away any stray tears from his eyes.

"Thanks, Raph…," Mikey said in a raspy voice due to the amount of crying he did.

"No worries, bro, ya needed dat release. Just don't tell da others about dis or else I'll smack da green off ya," Raph replied with a smirk after hearing his baby chuckle lightly to that before continuing. "Now, you should go and get some sleep, ya had a rough day."

"Yeah, you're right…Night, Raph," Mikey said before heading towards the staircase that leads to where the others were sleeping.

Just as Raph was about to say goodnight to Mikey, a loud and ferocious roar suddenly echoed into the atmosphere, causing the two turtles to freeze and look at each other in fear before running over to the edge of the tower to see what it was.

What they saw made their eyes widen in horror; they saw a large, dark monstrous creature that had features including a dragon-like body and tail with large wings, but it had wolf-like features as well as it had a wolf's head, arms and legs with sharp claws, and fur on its back and neck. It was also not alone as the two turtles noticed that over a hundred demon creatures were starting to move forward towards the tower after its roar ended.

"No…, that thing… was also shown in my vision…!" Mikey said whilst shaking in fear.

"Go wake up the others, Mikey!" Raph instructed whilst keeping an eye on the demon army.

Mikey didn't have to respond to that as he already dashed off down the stairs to the others.

"Guys, wake up! We've got company!" He shouted, before watching as everyone was startled awake and stood up straight away.

"Is Raph already up there?" Leo asked Mikey after noticing that Raph was absent from his sleeping spot.

"Yeah, he was about to switch places with me before more monsters appeared, and I think their Chief is there with them. Come on!" Mikey explained before heading back upstairs to Raph, with Leo and the others following him from behind.

Once everyone gathered near the edge of the tower next to Raph, they could see now what Mikey meant when he said the word 'Chief', because they looked in awe and in horror as they saw the larger demonic beast looking up at the group as the smaller ones began to try and break into the tower through the door.

"We have to stop them from breaking in, or we'll be surrounded and ambushed from the inside!" Said Donnie as he looked on with worry before Leo spoke up.

"You're right, Don. We'll split into teams; Raph, Adam, Faragi, the Ancient One and I will keep the entrance secure, whilst you, Mikey, Joi, Torra and Master Splinter will keep an eye out for any signs of an attack from the lookout point here. We'll let each other know if back up is needed. Understood?"

Everyone nodded to Leo's instructions and began to split into their teams and head to their positions.


	8. Chapter 8-Holding the Fort

Chapter 8-Holding the Fort

_Leo's team…_

Leo and his team reached the door where they first entered from downstairs just in time to see that there were signs of a breach, with the demon creatures trying to get through the gaps, which they made with their sharp claws, through the big wooden door.

"Hurry! Let's take them out before they break in!" Shouted Leo before he charged forward with his katana in hand and stabbed one of the demons in the chest, killing it instantly, before he backed away to allow Faragi to take out another demon that was about to attack Leo from a gap above him. Raph also took out another two demons, which managed to get in through a gap on the left side of the door.

Despite their efforts, however, when one set of demons were taken down, another set would appear in the same place as the fallen, and the door was also starting to show signs of giving way completely due to the damage and heavy pressure from the gathering demons.

"There's too many of them! If this keeps up, the whole door will break and they'll start piling in!" Faragi pointed out whilst taking out more demons.

It was then that Adam decided to step in. "Stand back!" He said before he summoned his spirit bear avatar to act as a barricade against the door to bide some time for the others to think of a way to keep the demons out.

The Ancient One then saw something at the corner of the room and when he inspected it, his eyes lit up; it was a large and heavy stone statue of a male warrior with a dragon coiling loosely around him as if they were representing their friendship.

"Leonardo, Raphael, Faragi, use this to block the doorway!" He shouted urgently.

The said acolytes rushed over to the statue and began to move it towards the doorway, which was difficult to do at a fast pace due to its heavyweight, but they eventually managed to place it in front of the partially-damaged door after Adam moved out of the way.

The team stepped back to assess their efforts and they saw that the demons were finding it hard to get past the heavily built statue with their small claws, much to their relief.

"Alright, that should keep them from coming in for a while. Let's go see how the others are doing," Leo said after giving Raph and Faragi a high-five.

"Yeah, let's-" Raph was cut off when he heard a familiar voice shout out from the next floor up.

"Guys! Get up here, NOW!" It was Donnie's voice and he sounded panicked.

Leo and the others looked at each other as their eyes widened before they stormed up the stairs.

_/_

_Mikey's team…_

After seeing Leo's team off, Mikey went back to the edge of the tower to observe the demon army. It was then that Mikey noticed that the 'Chief' demon was looking up at him and no-one else but him with a cold and blood-thirsty stare, which was making him nervous and causing him to shake and breathe slightly faster.

Donnie noticed his little brother's discomfort and walked over to place a comforting hand on his shoulder, gaining his attention in the process.

"Mikey, you ok? You're looking a bit pale," Donnie asked him softly.

"I…I feel like… that thing… is watching me…as if it's…waiting for me…to make a move," Mikey answered whilst trying really hard to stay calm and not panic.

Donnie looked at him in confusion before he turned to look at the larger demon beast. He saw the way its intimidating eyes looked straight at his brother, but not at anybody else in their team. Donnie then turned to look at Master Splinter, who had also noticed the change in his youngest son's behaviour.

"Master Splinter, what exactly is that thing, and why is it only focusing its eyes on Mikey?" He asked him in concern for his brother's safety and wellbeing.

Master Splinter approached the tower's edge and took a closer look at the large creature since the twilight sky was making it difficult to see from a far distance, and then his eyes widened before turning back to his two sons.

"My sons, that is Dark Fang, the largest Shadow Beast of the Twilight Realm! He is a very powerful creature that has the ability to summon demons from the shadows with his mighty roar, and his sharp claws, fangs and dark fire are to be avoided at all costs!" He said to them with a serious tone before he continued. "I do not know the reason why he is watching you, Michelangelo, but I think that it is because it wants revenge for his best soldiers that you struck down during our last battle…"

"W-What!?" Mikey said as he and the others in his group showed a look of shock and horror after hearing this.

Before anyone could say anything else, they heard Dark Fang let out another mighty roar as he noticed that the entrance was now inaccessible for his minions to get inside that way. Suddenly, some of the demon creatures began to develop bat-like wings and, with a shriek, they took off into the air before heading for the attack on the lookout point.

"Incoming!" Joi shouted out before summoning her spirit hawk avatar to strike down the first few demons, and Torra followed her lead by summoning his spirit wolf avatar to attack those that had landed at the edge of the tower.

Donnie jumped up after activating his chi spirit energy and then used his Cleaving Wind attack to take out around five more of the flying demons, whilst his brother Mikey followed suit and took out two more himself despite the slight exhaustion that was still ailing him from the last fight, which Master Splinter soon noticed and decided to stay close to his son to help him in the fight.

Just when they thought that they could defeat them all, Dark Fang roared again and more of his minions changed from land to flying demons and they began to head towards the top of the tower.

"Man, they just keep coming!" Mikey shouted out as he prepared himself to fight back, even though he was starting to feel exhausted again.

"Donatello, go and call for the others! We will need their assistance, now!" Master Splinter instructed his purple-banded son, who nodded towards him and ran down the stairs to call Leo's team for help. "Guys! Get up here, NOW!"

Soon, Donnie heard the sound of fast footsteps approaching him and he saw Leo and the rest of his team coming towards him at full speed.

"Donnie!? What's going on!?" Leo asked with a firm but worried tone.

"It's the demons; Dark Fang changed them to help them fly up here, and their numbers are growing!" Donnie explained, leaving the others looking at him with confused and surprised looks on their faces, except the Ancient One whose eyes widened.

"Dark Fang!? So that's what that larger demon is! He is able to change his followers into different forms with its mighty roar!" The Ancient One said with a horrified look on his face before everyone ran back up to the lookout point to join the others.

/

_Acolytes Reunited…_

When they got there, they saw that Joi and Torra were finding it hard to keep up with the attacks made by the increased number of demons in the air, whilst Master Splinter was struggling to keep the flying demons away from Mikey, who was knelt down and sweating due to the exhaustion catching up to him.

Leo's team went into action as Donnie and the Ancient One went straight to where Mikey was to give Master Splinter a hand in protecting him as he regained his strength, whilst Leo, Raph, Faragi and Adam went to join the other acolytes in defeating and keeping the demons away from the tower.

A few minutes later, the demon numbers began to diminish down to only a handful and everyone was showing signs of exhaustion and fatigue, but then they were suddenly hit by an intense quaking sensation under their feet that only lasted for a moment before it happened again.

Raph went to investigate since he was closest to the edge, and what he saw shocked him; Dark Fang was ramming against the tower and backing up to charge again, with his minions joining in. "What da Shell is it doing!?" Raph shouted.

"If this keeps up, it will cause the tower to collapse, with us in it!" Donnie estimated in a panicked tone.

"But what can we do!? They won't give up and Dark Fang keeps summoning more demons each time we take them all down! Why is he doing this!?" Leo questioned.

"It's probably because…he wants _me_, Leo…" Mikey spoke up in a serious but quiet tone before slowly getting up from his resting spot.

"What…? What do you mean, Mikey!?" Leo asked in shock as he walked towards his orange-banded brother.

"I remember seeing him before in the vision I had a while ago, and I thought that he was only going to appear during the ambush in the forest, but I was wrong; Dark Fang must have stayed in the shadows and watched the battle unfold before I came to save Donnie and Raph from getting beaten to death by his larger minions. I think…he's after me because… he wants revenge and is willing to fight me until I'm dead…" Mikey explained his theory whilst walking from the edge of the tower to where his brothers and friends were standing, before finishing with one last sentence as he looked at everyone with a stern look on his face.

"Well, if he wants a fight, then… I will give him one!" Everyone around him stood in absolute horror as they knew what he was about to do as soon as they see him begin to slowly activate his spiritual power.

"No… Mikey, no! You can't take him and his remaining minions on your own!" Donnie begged his immediate little brother.

"Yeah, so don't even think about it, bro!" Raph said in agreement with Donnie.

"Mikey, remember what I told you before at your rematch against Kluh? If one of us goes down, we all go down, so please, don't do this!" Leo said in a firm and gentle voice to his little brother, who looked at them all with a sad smile.

"It's ok, guys…let's just say that…this is my atonement for my actions back then…If I don't survive this, I just wanna say that…I love you all!" He said with a single tear falling down his cheek before he suddenly dashed passed them at lightning speed and jumped off the edge of the tower.

"MIKEY!" "MICHELANGELO!" "NO!"

Everyone shouted and ran to try and stop Mikey, but it was too late as he was already out of reach and nearly half-way towards where Dark Fang and his minions were waiting for him.

As he fell, however, Mikey closed his eyes and focused as hard as he could before his bodily markings began to glow even brighter to a point where he was surrounded by a bright light. Then, everyone watched as Mikey began to undergo a transformation within the surrounding light before they all heard a powerful roar, which did not belong to Dark Fang…

But it belonged to Mikey, who appeared from within the light not as a turtle, but as a dragon!


	9. Chapter 9-Mikey is a WHAT?

Chapter 9-Mikey is a WHAT!?

As the sunrise slowly began to appear and brighten the dark sky with its warm colours, everyone looked on with their eyes and mouths wide open as they witnessed Mikey emerge from within the fading light during the descent towards Dark Fang as not a turtle, but a dragon!

His new form was huge and it was almost the same size as Dark Fang, and it featured glowing orange-coloured eyes, sharp teeth and a hard-covered back with small signs of wings, and he was also capable of flying despite the lack of visible wings.

Dragon Mikey charged downwards with a roar before landing on top of some of the demon creatures and then began attacking the rest of them with his powerful bite as they went for the attack. Dark Fang, on the other hand, managed to dodge Mikey's attack and stayed at a far distance to watch him fight with a sickening grin before deciding when to make a move.

"I…I don't believe it…! Did Mikey just…?" Raph stuttered whilst still in shock over what he just saw.

"Yeah…he…he changed into his spirit avatar!" Donnie said also in a stutter from shock.

"But…I thought that…Leonardo would be the first one to do so…since he discovered the dragon avatar first…" Faragi said as he looked at Mikey's new form in awe before looking at Leo, who shook his head at what he just said before he spoke.

"Not exactly...I think… it was Mikey's heart that caused him to focus and transform in the first place because his wish to atone and protect us by stopping the demons alone was a strong desire that he had made and kept deep inside his heart ever since the argument and the forest ambush."

"That is a valid point, Leonardo…as I too had seen such a strong desire through Michelangelo's eyes after the ambush in the forest," Master Splinter said in agreement before looking back down to watch the ongoing battle below, with the others doing the same to see how Mikey was doing.

So far, Mikey was doing well in standing his ground and keeping the land and flying demons away from his family and friends above him, but he was starting to receive multiple bites and deep scratches, which were bleeding slightly, made by the demons during the process until he eventually managed to defeat all of them a few minutes later by finishing them off with his powerful light fire beam.

Everyone above him was silent for a moment before they all cheered for him with both joy and relief knowing that Mikey was able to defeat the demon army and protect the tower with them on top of it at the same time.

However, their celebration was short-lived because they forgot that they still had to stop the army's 'Chief', Dark Fang, who charged out of nowhere and tackled Mikey without giving him the chance to prepare himself, slamming him hard into the tower wall in the process and causing the tower to shake again.

"Mikey, no!" Raph called out to his brother after seeing him pinned against the wall by Dark Fang's sharp claws, which were digging into his neck and left arm and causing them to bleed, before attempting to jump off the edge to help him but Leo and Donnie stopped him by restraining him.

"Let me go! He needs help!" Raph shouted out in desperation to get to Mikey.

"No, Raph, it's too dangerous!" Leo shouted back at him before he and Donnie dragged him away from the edge.

"Then what _should _we do, Fearless!? He'll get killed if we don't act now!" Raph replied heatedly before Master Splinter placed a calming and comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Calm yourself, Raphael, we must approach this with caution. Charging into the battle recklessly will not help him at all," He said firmly but softly to his red-banded son, who nodded in understanding whilst sighing in frustration.

Donnie went back to the edge of the tower to check on his little brother, who was able to get Dark Fang off of him and was now standing in a defensive pose as he prepared himself for another one of the beast's charge attacks. Whilst he was assessing the situation, Donnie noticed that part of the tower's wall behind Mikey was so badly damaged that it would cause the whole tower to fall with one more heavy strike, and that was when an idea came to him.

"Of course! Mikey!" Donnie shouted his brother's name as loud as he could to get his attention, which he succeeded as he saw Mikey's head turned upwards to see who was calling him.

"I've got an idea! Get Dark Fang to charge into the tower wall behind you!" Donnie explained loudly before he watched Mikey nod with a grunt and turned back to focus on Dark Fang, who was at his final stage in readying his attack. Donnie was then suddenly pulled back and he turned around to see that it was Raph who was not a happy turtle.

"What da Shell are ya trying ta pull off here, Donnie!?" He asked his brother angrily whilst the others looked at Donnie with glaring and panicked looks on their faces.

"Guys, just calm down and hear me out! If we can get Dark Fang to damage the wall one more time, we can cause the tower to tilt and fall forward in the same direction to where he is standing, meaning…" Donnie calmly explained to everyone before Leo understood where he was getting at and finished his sentence for him with a smile.

"We can all take him out with one big strike! Good thinking, Donnie!" Said turtle smiled back at his oldest brother before he and everyone else continued to watch the battle below just in time to see Dark Fang starting to charge towards Mikey at full speed ahead.

As soon as Dark Fang was close enough to Donnie's liking, he signaled his brother by shouting, "Now, Mikey!"

Said brother moved to one side just before Dark Fang could slam into him and instead, he crashed into the already damaged tower wall, causing it to crack all around the bottom and crumble under the heavyweight of the whole tower.

As Dark Fang backed away from the rubble in a daze, the tower began to lean forward and the acolytes started to panic as they did not know how to escape from the top of the tower without having to jump from a height that's too high up. It was then that Mikey quickly took flight and appeared at the top of the tower with a roar. Leo understood what he meant with a nod.

"Hurry, guys! Get on!" He said before jumping onto Mikey's head with the others quickly following his lead by jumping onto his neck and back depending on the order of size, and they all watched from above as the tower leaned forward and collapsed on top of Dark Fang without giving him the chance to snap out of it and move away in time.

After a moment, everyone breathed a sigh of relief before they started cheering whilst Mikey descended slowly towards the ground. Once he landed, he lowered his head to allow his family and friends to jump off of him. Whilst still lowered down to everyone's level, Donnie ran over to Mikey's head and hugged the bottom of his face.

"Way to go, Mikey! You did it!" He said to his brother with a proud smile.

"Great job, lil' bro, or should I call ya _big _lil' bro?" Raph said bashfully with a smirk after reminding himself that Mikey was bigger than his older brothers at the moment, but Mikey gave him a dragon smile anyway to that funny remark.

"You did good, Mikey. I'm proud of you, bro," Leo said as he stroked Mikey's nose before he laid his forehead onto it with his eyes closed to show how grateful he was for what his brother did for them.

"Well done, my son," Master Splinter followed before patting his son's dragon nose softly and affectionately with a smile, before the Ancient One and the other acolytes began to praise and thank Mikey for saving them as well.

Then, at the corner of his eye, Mikey noticed movement under the rubble and he growled towards it to warn the others just in time before something arose from beneath it.

Much to their horror, it was Dark Fang!

He opened his eyes, which glowed red with rage as he looked towards Mikey, and growled at him before he breathed out his dark fire.


	10. Chapter 10-Light Vs Darkness

Chapter 10-Light Vs Darkness, Dragon Style

In a fit of rage, Dark Fang aimed at Mikey and the acolytes before he breathed out his dark fire.

Mikey reacted to this straight away by moving in front of his family and friends and unleashed his light fire beam to counter the attack. Mikey then charged towards his opponent and bites his neck, but Dark Fang managed to shake him off roughly to a point where he caused Mikey to fall hard on the ground.

Before he could get up, Mikey roared in pain as he felt Dark Fang pin him down and his claws dug into his neck and chest, but Mikey unleashed his light fire beam right into his face, causing him to loosen his grip and back off far enough to allow Mikey to get back up.

As this was going on, Mikey's brothers, Master Splinter, the Ancient One and the other acolytes looked on with terrified and concerned expressions on their faces, but they also featured hope because they believed in their hearts and minds that Mikey would defeat the Shadow Beast for good.

Donnie knew already that Mikey needed him and his other older brothers to support him in any way they can, so he took a few steps forward and inhaled deeply before shouting with all his might.

"Come on, Mikey! You can do it, bro!"

"Yeah, you can do it!" Leo shouted in agreement.

"Go, Mikey, go!" Raph cheered loudly for his baby brother before everyone else joined in to yell their support to him as well.

Mikey heard them all cheering for him. They believed in him, so he knew that he should believe in himself too.

With that in mind, Mikey gave an almighty roar before charging in full force to ram into Dark Fang's chest, causing him to lose his breath and cough up blood since the impact had caused him to break a rib or two, whilst Mikey got slightly dizzy due to the hard impact he made with his head. Despite his injuries, Dark Fang took the advantage of Mikey's setback and used his sharp claws to stab him in his side and shoulder, causing him to roar in agony.

"Mikey!" Leo and his brothers cried out in horror as they saw the attack unfold.

Said brother came back to his senses from the shock and pain of the attack after hearing his brothers call out his name, and he then used his light fire beam to hit Dark Fang in the chest, releasing him and causing the end of one of Dark Fang's claws to break off and stay embedded in his shoulder.

Mikey knew that he was starting to feel weaker due to the blood loss and had to finish this sooner or later, so he flew into the air to tempt Dark Fang into following him, which he did, in order to keep him away from his family and friends, who all watched him go higher into the sky with worried looks on their faces.

Once he had reached a suitable height, Mikey stopped with Dark Fang doing the same at a far distance whilst wearing a dark-looking smirk on his face. A moment later, Dark Fang unleashed his dark fire upon Mikey, only for it to be countered by Mikey's light fire beam. Mikey then appeared out of nowhere through the smoke to tackle him in his already broken ribs, causing Dark Fang to roar in pain as he and Mikey spiraled downwards towards the ground.

However, Dark Fang managed to break loose from Mikey's hold and quickly whipped his tail into his face, but Mikey quickly snapped back into focus and headed straight for the killer blow by combining his light fire with his fangs to create a deadly bite to Dark Fang's neck as they both continued their dangerous descent towards the ground.

The group on the ground started to see the two dragons quickly descend near them and they all ran to get further away before they could get caught in the impact as soon as they landed.

The two dragons landed hard with a big explosion, and once the group got closer to the newly made hole in the ground, their eyes widened as they gasped at what they saw; Mikey was on top of Dark Fang with his fiery teeth still in his neck, which seemed to have caused the shadow beast to stop breathing since his chest was still and his eyes were no longer glowing red and were instead looking dull as a sign of no life inside them.

After sensing that his opponent would not rise ever again, Mikey loosened his grip on Dark Fang's neck and he watched in surprise as Dark Fang's body suddenly began to turn to stone and crumble under Mikey's weight before he took a deep breath in and letting out a mighty roar of victory.

Then, Mikey's body began to glow and slowly started to transform back into his mutant turtle form in mid-air before landing on his feet and collapsing onto the ground, with his breathing laboured and wounds bleeding badly.

"Mikey!" His brothers shouted in unison as they quickly ran to get to their wounded little brother with everyone else following them from behind.

Once they reached him, Donnie checked Mikey's pulse, which was weak but still there, before he assessed the deep puncture wounds on his side and shoulder, which still had the end of Dark Fang's claw embedded in it. During this, Leo had Mikey's head supported on his lap and Raph was on Mikey's other side, looking at him in concern whilst firmly but gently holding his little brother's hand in his.

"Mikey, can you hear me?" Leo asked his brother softly but loud enough for him to hear him, and Mikey slowly opened his eyes and tried to focus on his brothers before developing a pained but warm smile on his face as he clearly saw his brothers who smiled back in relief knowing that he was responding.

"H-Hey…b-bros…Ngh…" Mikey croaked out before cringing to the pain from his wounds and aching body.

"Hold on, bro…ya gonna be ok…" Raph said whilst trying to keep himself from losing control of his emotions after seeing his brother wounded and barely conscious due to the severe exhaustion and injuries.

"Guys, we need to find more bandages for him, he's losing a lot of blood and we can't move him until he is stabilized!" Donnie announced as he tried to stem the bleeding from Mikey's side with both hands, which was partially working but he could see the blood slightly seeping through in between his fingers.

"We will go find what's left from the rubble!" Faragi said with the other acolytes and the Ancient One nodding in agreement before following him towards the tower's remains to find any medical supplies that may have survived the destruction.

In the meantime, Mikey's brothers and Master Splinter did their best to keep Mikey awake by talking to him.

"We're so proud of you, Mikey…" Leo praised his little brother whilst he gently stroked his bruised cheek to comfort him.

"Yeah, you both stopped and defeated the most powerful beast of the twilight zone, Mikey! Thank you for saving us, little brother…" Donnie said whilst he continued his attempt to stem the bleeding.

"Yeah, bro…We never knew ya had it in ya…" Raph said before giving Mikey's hand a gentle squeeze.

"Indeed, you have made your family proud, Michelangelo." Master Splinter said soothingly to his youngest son before giving him a soft kiss on his forehead.

"Rest now, my son, we will take care of you and everything else…" He continued after noticing how Mikey was trying really hard to keep his eyes open, despite his severe exhaustion.

"B-but…" Mikey began to feel anxious and tried to speak up but Leo had cut him off.

"It's ok, Mikey…we're all ok and will be here when you wake up. We promise…" He said this to him with a determined but warm smile whilst his other brothers nodded to confirm their part in the promise as well.

"…O-Okay…L-Love you…" Mikey whispered before he relaxed and fell asleep seconds later, whilst wearing a small smile on his face.

"Love you too, Mikey…" "Love you too, Michelangelo…" His brothers and father/sensei said in unison with smiles of their own before they went straight to work on stabilizing their brother/son.


	11. Chapter 11-From Wounded to Sick

Chapter 11-From Wounded to Sick

It didn't take long for the Ancient One and the other acolytes to return with more bandages for Mikey, as well as materials that could be used to make a stretcher to help carry him back to the boat with ease.

After being given the bandages, Donnie went straight to work in patching up his little brother with the help of Master Splinter and Leo, who swapped places with Raph to be closer to his brother's wounded side whilst they worked, despite protests from their Red-banded brother.

"Don't worry, Raph, he'll be fine. Go and help the others with the stretcher," Leo reassured him before turning his head back to help Donnie. Raph reluctantly left his brothers to do their thing and went to help the Ancient One and the other acolytes in building a sturdy stretcher for Mikey.

10 minutes later, Donnie wiped the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand before looking at the bandage work on Mikey, and then he turned his head towards Mikey to see how he was doing since he fell asleep not long ago.

It was then that he noticed his little brother's head was sweating more than it was earlier and his breathing was shaky and slightly laboured still, so he reached over to place the palm of his hand onto Mikey's head before removing it quickly after feeling the intense heat radiating from it.

"Oh, shell…" Donnie said worriedly before double-checking his theory by flipping his hand from front to back and placing it again on Mikey's forehead, still feeling the same temperature once more.

"What's wrong, Donnie?" Leo asked after he and Master Splinter noticed the worry on Donnie's face.

"A fever…Mikey's burning up!" Donnie replied before he watched Leo's eyes widen and Master Splinter placing his paw on Mikey's forehead to confirm it himself.

"My sons, it seems that the severe exhaustion and the long battle with Dark Fang as a dragon combined have taken a heavy toll on your brother both physically and spiritually. We must get him back to the temple and give him the medicine he needs to fight his fever," He said with urgency in his voice.

Shortly after Master Splinter spoke, Raph hurried over with the other acolytes and the newly-built stretcher after he overheard them talking about Mikey's condition.

"What!? Mike's sick!?" He snapped at his brothers and sensei before crouching down next to his little brother to place a hand on his cheek and then backing it away slightly after feeling the heat coming from it.

"Oh, no…Mikey…" He said quietly as he looked at Mikey in shock with tears beginning to develop in his eyes.

"Do not worry, Raphael, your brother will pull through with our support and with the right medical care," Master Splinter soothed his red-banded son as he placed a comforting paw on his shoulder.

Raph nodded in understanding at his father's words and stood back up to turn to Leo. "Da stretcher's ready when you guys are," He said after composing himself before he looked at Donnie. "Is it ok ta move him now, Donnie?"

"We have patched up Mikey as best we could for now, but even though he has a high fever, he is stable enough to be transferred onto the stretcher," Donnie confirmed.

His older brothers nodded before signaling the others to bring the stretcher over, and they worked together to carefully transfer Mikey onto it. Master Splinter then covered his son with a blanket, which was also found in the rubble, and tucked him in to help make him feel more comfortable during the journey back to the boat.

"Raph, you and Adam will carry Mikey back to the boat. Make sure that you transport him at a slow but steady pace to reduce the risk of jostling him too much and aggravating his injuries, ok?" Leo instructed his immediate younger brother who nodded with a grunt before taking his position at the bottom part of the stretcher and, with Adam holding the top handles of the stretcher, they both gently lifted Mikey up from the ground.

"Ok, let's get back to the boat, everyone!" Leo said to the whole group before taking the lead towards the direction of where their boat was docked.

30 minutes had passed since they set off, and the group was halfway towards their destination when Mikey began to start groaning and moving his head slowly from side to side before he started to mumble to himself.

"N-No…d-don't…leave t-them alone…"

Raph watched his brother with worry as he struggled in his internal battle before it caught Donnie's attention, much to Raph's relief.

"Stop, you two, let me check on him a minute," He said after halting Adam and Raph and then coming over to take a look at his sick and wounded brother. He assessed the symptoms that Mikey was showing until he figured out what was going on before he leaned closer to him.

"Mikey…it's alright…it's me, Donnie…You're having a dream...we're ok… and you're ok…" He said soothingly whilst he placed a comforting hand on Mikey's cheek. Then, Mikey groaned again as he leaned against Donnie's hand before settling back into a peaceful sleep.

"Is he ok, Don? What happened just now?" Raph asked his purple-banded brother, desperate to know what was going on right now.

"Mikey was having a fever dream, Raph. If I hadn't come over another minute later, he would have tried to get off the stretcher in a panicked state, which would have made his injuries worse," Donnie explained calmly to his immediate older brother, who took a minute to take in what he just said before nodding in understanding as Donnie continued.

"I think we should take a break for a bit to catch our breath and make sure that Mikey is comfortable and hydrated because the amount of sweating that he is currently experiencing can result in him becoming severely dehydrated."

Everyone looked at each other before they all nodded and Leo spoke up. "Ok, Donnie, we'll take a break for 10 minutes and then we'll head straight off again."

Donnie smiled and nodded in agreement to the amount of time given for a break before he guided Raph and Adam to a safe spot where they could lower Mikey down gently to the ground, and Master Splinter was there straight away after filling a small bowl with water from the wooden bucket that was used and taken from the well and grabbing a piece of cloth from the supplies found in the rubble.

"These will help in lowering Michelangelo's fever, my son," the old rat said before he handed them over to him.

"Thank you, Master Splinter. This will help him greatly, even if it's only temporary it will bide us some time until we get back to the temple," Donnie said to his sensei after he received the much-needed items from him and placed the bowl next to him before dipping the cloth into the cool water.

After he wrung out the excess water from the cloth, Donnie folded it and gently placed it on his little brother's forehead, resulting in Mikey letting out a sigh of relief before developing a small smile on his face, causing Donnie to smile too with a light chuckle.

"I bet that feels much better, huh?" He said softly before he heard Mikey hum in response as if agreeing to what he said, whilst he gently stroked his brother's cheek with his thumb.

A moment later, Donnie carefully placed a hand under Mikey's head and lifted it slightly so that he could get him to drink some water from the bowl, which he asked Raph to bring closer to Mikey's mouth.

"Drink some water, Mikey. Take slow and small sips, ok?" Donnie instructed him as he and Raph watched Mikey open his mouth slightly to accept the water bowl that came into contact with his lips and drank the water slowly and in small sips like he was told.

"They ya go, bro…" Raph said softly to his little brother, who then finished drinking with a slight cough which caused him to wince and moan in pain because the cough made him move slightly and aggravate his injuries a bit.

"Easy, Mikey…I know it hurts but you'll be ok once we get back to the temple," Donnie said whilst gently laying Mikey's head back down and then checking to see if his injuries were still stable. Luckily, the bandages were still keeping the wounds from bleeding any further and keeping the claw nail in his shoulder secure from too much movement, so Donnie placed the blanket back on top of Mikey and then tucked him in a bit more.

"How's he doing, Donnie?" Leo asked his purple-banded brother after observing him from a small distance away.

"The bandages are holding for now, and his fever is still high but not as bad as it was earlier thanks to the cold water we have leftover. We should get moving as soon as we're ready, though…" Donnie explained with his voice sounded a bit on edge as he said the last sentence.

Leo placed a hand on Donnie's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze before he spoke. "Don't worry, Don, we'll be setting off again in 5 minutes, so try and take a breather while you still can cos we won't be making any more stops after this one."

Donnie nodded in understanding. "Ok…Thanks, Leo," he then said with a smile of gratitude towards his oldest brother before walking away and dragging a reluctant Raph with him to go and have a chat with the other acolytes, who were keeping a lookout for any danger during their stop, and took a break from tending to Mikey. After seeing them off, Leo sat next to his sick and wounded little brother, whose eyes suddenly opened slightly, showing the feverish glaze within them.

"Hey, Mikey…" Leo said quietly to make sure that he didn't scare him before placing a comforting hand on Mikey's chest.

Mikey moved his head slightly to the right to see his blue-banded brother looking at him with a warm smile, so he blinked before giving him a small smile of his own despite the discomfort that he was feeling right now. He was about to talk but Leo shook his head a little, telling him that he shouldn't right now.

"Don't try to talk, Mikey, Ok? Save your strength for the journey back," Leo said before receiving a small nod his little brother and then watched as he slowly closed his eyes to fall back to sleep again.

After a few more minutes of resting, Leo stood back up and the others gathered around him shortly after.

"Ok, let's continue our way back to the boat, everyone," Leo said before watching Adam and Raph go back to their duty of carrying Mikey and catching up with the others as everyone set off towards the location and safety of their boat once more.


	12. Chapter 12-All Hands on Deck!

Chapter 12-All Hands on Deck!

The group finally arrived back at the large boat without running into any more problems during their return.

As soon as they got on board, Adam and Raph were guided into one of the living quarters below deck by the Ancient One before they carefully lowered Mikey down and stepping aside to allow Donnie to check on him for any changes to his wounds or fever.

Unfortunately, he discovered that Mikey's fever had spiked slightly higher than it was earlier and there was a small amount of blood seeping through the bandages on his wounded side.

"This isn't good; he's slowly starting to deteriorate! We need to set sail right now!" Donnie said firmly with urgency towards the others before Leo stood forward to speak.

"Alright, here's the plan; Donnie, Master Splinter and the Ancient One will remain here and do everything they can to try and keep Mikey from getting any worse, whilst me and the rest of us will work on getting this boat going. Adam, you ok with steering the boat by yourself?"

"Yeah, you can count on me!" Adam answered him with a determined look and a fist placed over his chest.

"Good, now let's do this!" Leo said before he and the other acolytes went up towards the deck, except for Raph who took a moment to take one more look at his sick and wounded little brother.

"Raphael, do not worry about Michelangelo. He is strong and will not let his wounds or fever defeat him. Now, go and help the others, they will need your help," Master Splinter reassured his red-banded son.

Raph nodded to his father's words. "Take good care of him, guys…" He said before he left to go and help the others, with Master Splinter watching him go and then turning back to his two sons.

"Are there any herbs or other healing remedies stored in this boat somewhere, Ancient One? We really need more than just cool water to reduce Mikey's fever, and we're also low on bandages!" Donnie asked the Ancient One whilst continuously dipping and placing the wet cloth on Mikey's forehead.

"I am not sure, but there may be some herbs in the storage room where the food used for cooking is stored," the Ancient One said as he continued to think of other places where first aid supplies and medicines are being kept on the boat.

"I will go with the Ancient One and have a look for you, Donatello, you stay by your brother's side," Master Splinter said before leaving with the Ancient One to go and look for the medical supplies.

After watching them leave, Donnie turned back to look at his little brother, who was breathing slightly quicker than before due to the sky-high fever and began to groan whilst moving his head slowly from side to side.

"Shhh…it's alright, Mikey…I'm here…" Donnie said soothingly to Mikey as he placed a hand on his blanket-covered chest to comfort his little brother as best he could until Master Splinter and the Ancient One returns with the much-needed medical supplies.

Not long after talking to his brother, Donnie saw Mikey's eyes open halfway and then slightly turn his head towards him.

"D-Don-nie…H-Hurts…" The orange-banded turtle whispered with a stutter before letting warm tears fall from his eyes due to the pain and discomfort that he was experiencing.

"I know, little brother…I know…but don't worry, Master Splinter and the Ancient One are looking for some medicine that might help you with the pain and fever, ok?" Donnie told him softly with a warm smile whilst gently brushing away his little brother's tears from his cheeks before he saw Mikey nod weakly and then closed his eyes to doze off again.

A moment later, Master Splinter and the Ancient One came back and in both of their hands were two rolls of bandages each and what seemed to be transparent glass jars with some honey-like syrup and green and red-coloured tea leaves inside them.

"These were all that we could find, my son," Master Splinter said before placing them next to Donnie before the Ancient One spoke.

"The red tea leaves in the medium-sized jars will help to reduce his burning fever and the green-coloured tea leaves in the small jars will help with numbing the pain, whilst the honey in the slightly bigger jars will help with preventing infection from entering his wounds."

"Thank you both," Donnie said with relief in his voice before getting to work with changing Mikey's bandages, whilst Master Splinter began to prepare the tea-brewing process with the green tea leaves and water from the wooden bucket to make the numbing tea that would help numb the pain and allow Donnie to remove Dark Fang's claw nail from Mikey's shoulder without causing him more pain and distress.

After he removed the blood-covered bandages and exposed Mikey's side, Donnie cleaned it out with a wet cloth and then opened the jar with the honey inside and poured a small amount onto the wound before wrapping it up again with a fresh bandage, and after Master Splinter finished making the numbing tea and handed it over to him, Donnie lifted the now half-awake Mikey's head slowly and placed the teacup close to his lips.

"Mikey, drink this tea, it will help numb the pain," he said slowly before Mikey opened his mouth and accepted the tea by drinking it in small sips since it was still warm and he wasn't too keen on the bitter taste. Soon, Mikey began to feel the effects of the tea and could barely feel the pain that he was experiencing not long ago, making it a sign for Donnie to give himself the go-ahead on removing the claw nail from his shoulder.

"Master Splinter, I'm going to need you to place this cloth on top of the shoulder wound as soon as I remove the claw from it to stem the bleeding until I patch it back up again, ok?" Donnie instructed his father as he handed him a clean cloth before he began the process of removing the old bandage from Mikey's shoulder. He then wrapped his fingers around the claw nail and started to slowly pull it out whilst being careful not to damage the shoulder more.

Once the claw was completely out, Master Splinter placed the cloth on top of the shoulder wound straight away and kept the pressure on it until Donnie was ready to clean and wrap it up with new bandages.

Throughout the whole extraction process, the only thing Mikey did was flinch once due to the weird moving sensation in his shoulder, but he didn't feel any pain after it was pulled out completely. After cleaning the wound and pouring some honey on top of it, Donnie grabbed the other fresh bandage and wrapped Mikey's now claw-free shoulder with it.

"There, that should bide us more time until we get back to the temple," He said after wiping the sweat off of his forehead and looked at his handy work on Mikey, who fell asleep again shortly after Donnie finished patching him up.

"Well done, Donatello," Master Splinter praised his purple-banded son as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"The numbing effects will wear off after around 15 minutes, so why don't you go and help the others with steering the boat whilst I help Splinter prepare the red tea leaves for Michelangelo's fever?" The Ancient One said to Donnie, who was worried at first but knew that Mikey would be in safe hands with them whilst he was above on the deck.

Donnie stood up and bowed to Master Splinter and the Ancient One after saying 'thank you' to them both and then walked up the stairs to go check on the others.

/

_Meanwhile, on the dock…_

Everyone was preparing the boat to leave the island; Adam was at the captain's wheel and was using his chi spirit power to steer and direct the boat towards the temple's location, whilst the others were keeping an eye out for any more enemies or issues with the boat during the sailing process.

"You know; I doubt that we will hear the end of what the Tribunal Masters will say when they find out that we came back without the Shredder's artefact," Faragi pointed out after a moment of silence.

"I know, Faragi, but what choice do we have? There was no way that we would carry on with the mission with a seriously wounded and sick team member. We can't risk it since he is already starting to get worse," Leo said with his voice slightly firm but soft at the same time due to his concern for his youngest brother.

"Hey, Mike's gonna pull through dis, Leo, he's stronger and tougher than ya think," Raph said with a determined look on his face as he walked towards his older brother, with Torra following him from behind.

"Raphael has a point, Leonardo, we should all believe in him as he endures and fights his current condition," Torra said, backing up Raph's words.

"You're right, guys…sorry for being a bit negative earlier. Mikey is a strong and brave ninja and will fight this long enough to pull through it all, no matter what," Leo said with a more confident tone in his voice, earning a smile and a nod from those around him before he spotted Donnie coming towards him from beneath the boat.

"Don, how's Mikey?" He asked his purple-banded brother, who walked closer to him and the others before he answered him calmly.

"I've cleaned Mikey's wounds as best I can and replaced the bandages with new ones. The claw nail in his shoulder was also removed without any problems, thanks to the numbing tea that Master Splinter and the Ancient One found in the storage area. Right now, they're waiting for the numbing effect to wear off before they could give him some tea that would help with his fever, so at the moment, he is comfortable and resting."

Everyone sighed in relief after hearing that, but only slightly because they all knew that Mikey wasn't out of the woods yet since there was still a chance that he could take a turn for the worse again during their sail back to the temple.

"Guys! There's something coming straight towards us, in the water!" Joi suddenly alerted the others, who then gathered to where she was standing to see for themselves. It was then that a big and dark silhouette could be seen approaching the boat on the left side before it rose from beneath the sea.

Once the curtain of water had washed away, the acolytes looked up in shock as they saw a large serpent-like creature with fan-shaped wings, sapphire blue-coloured scales and sky blue-coloured eyes, and it was looking down at them with its mouth wide open, which contained sharp teeth and two fangs on the top and bottom parts of its mouth.

"A sea dragon! I've seen this before in one of the books I read back in the temple's study room. It has the ability to create strong whirlpools with its roar whenever it feels intruded by outsiders in its territory!" Donnie stated whilst still in shock over what he's seeing in front of him.

"Raph, go down below and warn Master Splinter and the Ancient One. The rest of us will try and keep the sea dragon from damaging the ship!" Leo instructed his red-banded brother, who nodded and took off straight away to go and let Master Splinter and the Ancient One know about what's going on before he and the others turned to look back at the creature with weapons ready just as it began to attack.


	13. Chapter 13-A Battle at Sea

Chapter 13-A Battle at Sea

_Below deck…_

"Master Splinter!" Raph called out as he quickly approached his father, who had just finished giving Mikey the red leaf tea for his fever before looking up at his red-banded son.

"Raphael, what is wrong?" He asked as he tried to keep himself calm after sensing the urgency in his son's voice.

"A sea dragon just popped out of nowhere from da sea and it looked like it was getting ready ta attack when Leo told me ta go and tell ya about it," Raph explained as calmly as he could despite the light shaking sensation in his body.

"Hmmm, it will be difficult to battle a sea dragon whilst it is in the water since it is in its element, but it is known to fly out of the water when it needs to," explained the Ancient One whilst brushing his beard in thought, before Master Splinter stood up.

"Raphael, stay here and watch over your brother, the Ancient One and I will go and provide support and guidance to the others whilst they battle the dragon," Master Splinter told his son, who nodded and sat next to Mikey, before he and the Ancient One left to join the others in their battle with the sea dragon.

Once he knew they were gone, Raph looked back at his sick and wounded brother, who was sleeping peacefully and sounded like his breathing was a little better than before. He then placed a hand on Mikey's forehead and noticed that his fever was at a steadier temperature than it was earlier, but he knew that it might rise again once the tea's effects have worn off.

"Oh, bro…why did dis have ta happen ta ya, huh?" Raph said with a sigh before moving his hand from Mikey's forehead to his cheek. Sensing a presence near him, Mikey stirred and opened his eyes halfway before he turned his head to lean into Raph's hand that was still on his cheek.

"Mmm…R-Raph…?" Mikey said quietly after catching a glimpse of his red-banded older brother.

"Hey, Mikey…How are ya feeling?" Raph said softly with relief in his voice after seeing Mikey awake and speaking to him again.

"A l-little b-better…still h-hurts…" Mikey replied whilst leaning further into Raph's hand for comfort before continuing with tears developing in his eyes. "I-I'm…scared…R-Raphie…"

"It's ok, bro, I'm here…I won't let anything happen ta ya," Raph soothed him as he grabbed his little brother's hand with his spare hand.

Suddenly, a loud bang was heard and the boat began to shake and rock, causing Mikey to groan in pain and distress because it was disturbing his wounds and was too weak to defend himself if something were to happen to him.

Raph immediately gathered his brother into his arms by placing one arm under Mikey's head and shoulders and then placing his other arm under Mikey's legs before lifting him slightly and gently towards his plastron in order to hold him securely whilst minding his injuries.

"I got ya, Mikey…" Raph said whilst he looked at his brother with a warm and determined smile, which Mikey weakly returned.

"I-I know…y-you always do…" Mikey whispered as he looked at him before closing his eyes and slipping into a comfortable sleep, knowing that his big brother would keep him safe.

Raph looked down at his brother with a surprised look before he smiled again after he heard those words. He couldn't believe that Mikey would trust someone like him to protect him despite how he treated him and what he said to him during yesterday's first ambush.

It just goes to show just how unique Mikey really is; he was always known to quickly forgive someone when they scold or insult him for being a bit immature or not paying attention, but it was his kind and fun-loving heart that had kept his family from losing their sanity and falling apart since it brought fun and happiness to everyone's lives, no matter how many times they told Mikey to grow up.

Another loud bang and shaking sensation occurred a moment later, and Raph braced himself and his brother to stay still in one place to prevent too much movement that would cause more pain for Mikey.

"What da Shell are they doing up there!?" Raph whispered to himself as he looked up towards the doorway that leads to the top deck whilst holding Mikey close.

_/_

_Above deck…_

The group braced themselves with weapons in hand as the sea dragon attacked by charging his head towards the deck. They managed to dodge and attack the dragon's head, causing it to back away from the boat for a moment, before it growled and whipped its tail hard against the side of the boat, causing it to rock back and forth.

It then let out a mighty roar and the sea around itself and the boat began to glow before turning into whirlpools, resulting in the boat to not only become trapped with nowhere to go but also rocky to a point where everyone was struggling to stay in one place.

"We've got to stop the dragon from hitting and rocking the boat too much or Mikey's condition will quickly get worse!" Donnie shouted out to Leo before heading up to help Adam with steering the boat.

Leo nodded at him and then noticed Master Splinter and the Ancient One coming straight towards them from below deck.

"Master Splinter, is Mikey-" Leo tried to speak but was cut off by Master Splinter, knowing what his son was about to ask him. "He is fine, Leonardo, Raphael is watching over him for now. Watch out!" Leo turned back around after hearing his master's warning just in time to see the sea dragon breathe out a hydro blast towards the group.

Everyone managed to dodge it in time, but the attack had caused the deck's surface to become more slippery due to the high amount of water that the dragon released.

"This will make it difficult for us to move and dodge without falling over or slipping in the wrong direction!" Donnie said with worry after seeing Joi and Torra slip whilst trying to regroup with the others.

"We cannot fight the dragon whilst it is still in the water, so we must try and make it fly into the air where it is most vulnerable since it can only survive underwater," the Ancient One explained whilst holding on to the side of the boat to keep himself from slipping.

"How do we get it out of the water?" Faragi asked whilst keeping an eye on the sea dragon, which was circling around the boat and waiting for them to make a move.

"Hmmm, it is only able to swim in cold waters since its skeleton and scales are made from the same element as ice because sea dragons lay their eggs within the ice under a snowy mountain. If it gets too close to warmer waters, its scales will weaken and it will have no choice but to fly into the air for only a short time due to its need to breathe underwater," the Ancient One explained with great detail.

"Warmer waters? Then we're going to have to raise the temperature up a bit, but how?" Leo said whilst placing a hand under his chin to think about what to do before Donnie jumped down from his time on the steering wheel and answered Leo's question.

"I know who can help us turn up the heat, and that's Raph!" Everyone looked at Donnie in astonishment and then at each other before Leo spoke with a smile.

"You're right, Donnie; Raph's power has been known to heat things up. After all, he is a hothead."

"Well then, what are you waiting for? Go and get him up here!" Joi said in a serious tone, knowing that this wasn't the time to joke about.

"But isn't he watching over Michelangelo right now?" Torra reminded them with a concerned look on his face.

"I know, but if he really wants to help Mikey, then he will need to help us stop the dragon in order to get back to the temple quicker," Donnie answered him before turning to Leo, who nodded in agreement and they both hurried below deck to find and get Raph.


	14. Chapter 14-Turning up the Heat

Chapter 14-Turning up the Heat

Leo and Donnie arrived below deck and into the living quarters that were occupied by their red and orange-banded brothers.

They both looked at them with a concerned look on their faces, because they saw Raph securely holding on to Mikey who looked as if he just did a 20-mile marathon judging by his laboured breathing and sweating body, and he was snuggled close to his red-banded brother.

"Raph?" Leo said softly to avoid startling both his brothers as he walked slowly towards them. Raph instantly looked up from Mikey to Leo and Donnie after hearing his name and he looked at them with a worried face.

"Leo? Donnie? What da Shell is going on up there? It's making Mikey feel worse!" He said firmly before looking back at Mikey.

Leo and Donnie walked closer to where their brothers were positioned and saw for themselves that Mikey was not looking too good since they could see the slight tint of redness on his cheeks and forehead, where Donnie gently placed his hand to confirm that his temperature had risen again.

"Shell…The tea must have worn off by now if his fever has spiked this high…" Donnie theorised in a worried tone.

"Raph, we need your help in stopping the dragon from attacking us and the boat," Leo said firmly but softly to his red-banded brother before he watched him look up towards him with a surprised but worried look on his face before he spoke.

"I can't leave him, Leo! Not after I told him dat I would stay and not let anything happen ta him!" Raph then looked back again at Mikey, who suddenly opened his eyes slightly after he heard voices near him.

"Mikey?" Donnie said in surprise after seeing his brother wake up suddenly.

"D-Dudes…? W-What's…Ngh…" Mikey said weakly but loud enough for his brothers to hear before he winced again due to the pain.

"Take it easy, Mikey, we just need to borrow Raph for a bit. Is that ok with you?" Leo said softly to his brother with a warm smile whilst trying to stay calm about the current situation to prevent Mikey from becoming stressed and worried about everyone.

Mikey looked at Leo before he moved his head slightly to look at Raph, who still wasn't happy about leaving his baby brother alone. He then weakly raised his hand out for Raph to hold onto as he spoke with a small smile.

"G-Go on R-Raphie…they n-need y-you…I-I'll be fine…"

Raph could tell that Mikey was finding it hard to talk and to stay awake, but he knew that his brother was a fighter and would stay strong until he got back to the temple, so he nodded at him and then turned to look at Leo and Donnie again.

"Alright then, let's get dis over with," He said with determination burning in his eyes.

Leo and Donnie nodded before they helped Raph with laying Mikey back down gently on the stretcher and covering him with the blanket. Donnie then went to the water bowl and reached in it to get the wet cloth out and placed it on Mikey's forehead after wringing the excess water out, causing Mikey to sigh in relief once more.

"This is all I can do for him for now. We need to get going now," Donnie said sadly but with determination as he looked from Mikey to his older brothers, who nodded and followed him out, with the exception of Raph who gave Mikey's hand a squeeze before catching up with his other brothers.

Once they arrived above deck, the turtles noticed that the others were getting ready to attack the dragon again and Master Splinter turned to see his sons with a relieved look on his face.

"My sons…" he said as he watched them run towards him and the group.

"I heard dat ya needed me, so what do ya need me ta do?" Raph questioned whilst wearing a 'let's-get-straight-to-the-point' look on his face.

"We need you to heat up the water where the dragon is swimming in so that we can get it to fly into the air," the Ancient One answered him whilst pointing at the water where the dragon was in.

"Alright, I'm on it!" Raph said without thinking twice and the markings on his body began to appear and glow as he began to activate his chi spirit energy before he jumped onto the ledge of the boat and brought out his Banrai weapon.

"Come on, Banrai!" He shouted before he jumped and fired beams of red energy down into the sea where the dragon was swimming near the boat. No matter which direction the dragon tried to turn to in order to escape his attacks, Raph attacked from all angles to ensure that the dragon stayed in one place whilst he heated the water up.

Raph carried this on for a few more minutes before the others noticed that the water was starting to bubble as the temperature slowly increased. It was then that the sea dragon began to roar in distress and pain from the hot temperature and started to unfold and flap its wings, making it fly into the air.

"Alright, it's out of the water! Well done, Raph!" Leo complimented his red-banded brother who had stopped attacking just after the dragon left the water and was working on regaining his breath and energy.

"Thanks…bro..." Raph replied whilst panting to try and catch his breath.

"You should rest for a bit now, Raph. We'll take it from here," Donnie said as he placed a hand on Raph's shoulder.

Raph said nothing and nodded instead before he made a move to take shelter below deck and keep Mikey company once more.

"Ok, everyone, attack whilst it's still out of the water!" Leo shouted before he activated his chi spirit energy and attacked the dragon by firing a sword energy slash, which hit the large creature on its front and produced a huge gash that bled a lot.

The dragon roared in pain before looking at the group with angry blue eyes and began to prepare another hydro blast, but this time it was combined with floating ice shards. Everyone knew that once it was ready, the sea dragon will release its attack onto the group!

"Heads up, guys!" Leo warned everyone and was about to move away from its range, but Donnie put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"We need to stop that attack from hitting the boat or it will damage the whole deck, or worse destroy most of the boat to the point of causing it to sink!" Donnie explained in a serious tone.

Leo and the other acolytes looked at each other before nodding after they realised that Donnie was right, so they gathered together and prepared an attack of their own. Faragi, Joi, Adam, and Torra each summoned their spirit animal avatars whilst Leo and Donnie both activated their chi spirit energies with their weapons in hand.

"Alright, on my signal…" Leo instructed everyone whilst keeping an eye on the dragon's almost charged attack.

Soon, the sea dragon's hydro blast attack was ready and it was released without any signs of holding back. Once it was halfway towards the group, Leo shouted out his signal.

"Now, attack!"

At once, everyone aimed at the incoming blast and released their power directly towards it, which suddenly combined into one attack that shaped into a dragon and shown in rainbow colours as it traveled towards the blast and hit it head-on.

The group's attack was so strong that not only did they stop the sea dragon's blast, but it also carried on towards the dragon and struck it without being given the chance to acknowledge and avoid it, causing it to roar in agony from the injuries that it sustained from their attack.

"Bullseye!" Donnie shouted as he and the others watched the sea dragon blackout and fall from the sky at a fast speed and land heavily into the water, with no signs of it coming back up.

"Is it…dead?" Joi asked with a worried look on her face as she didn't want to fight the sea dragon again after what she and the others all went through to stop it the first time.

"I do not know, but I do not think it will attack us again anytime soon," the Ancient One answered whilst stroking his small beard in thought.

"Alright, then we should resume on heading back to the Tribunal temple immediately. Mikey is getting worse and he won't be able to hold on for much longer…" Leo said with determination before watching everyone nod and head back to their original posts on the deck, with Adam steering the boat once more.

"Come, my sons, we must go and check on Michelangelo," Master Splinter said to Leo and Donnie who nodded and followed him below deck.

When they arrived at Mikey's side, they saw Raph wiping his little brother's forehead with the wet cloth with a concerned look on his face, and it wasn't until Leo, Donnie and Master Splinter got closer to them that the reason for this was because Mikey was shaking under the covers and was breathing more quickly and deeply.

"What's wrong with him!?" Raph said firmly but quietly to his family after he turned his head towards them when he heard them come in.

Donnie immediately went to Mikey's other side and checked on his vitals and bandaged injuries with the others watching on with worried looks on their faces. A minute later, Donnie looked at them in concern before he spoke.

"Mikey's body is trying to fight the fever, but he is starting to show early signs of shock because of how high it is!"

Everyone's eyes went wide after hearing this before they saw Raph immediately take off the blanket and start to wipe more of the wet cloth onto Mikey's body to try and help his baby brother from getting even more worse.

"Here, let us help, Raph!" Leo said to his immediate younger brother as he held out his hand for Raph to pass him the wet cloth, which he did and decided to hold one of Mikey's hands for support whilst he watched his other brothers and sensei tend to him.

"Come on, bro…Stay with us…please…" Raph said desperately to try and encourage his baby brother to keep fighting until they got back to the temple.

Mikey barely heard him even though he could just see him through his fever-glazed eyes, but he could feel him judging by the strong grip on his hand, so he gave it a weak squeeze before he closed his eyes one more time.

When he woke up a moment later, he found himself surrounded by nothing but darkness and silence.


	15. Chapter 15-A Surprise Visitor

Chapter 15-A Surprise Visitor

"Hello...? Anybody there...?" Mikey called out into the vast darkness in front of him.

He then thought about how strange this was; one minute he was looking at his family whilst he was on his back wounded and sick, and the next he woke up to find himself in some kind of dark-filled space.

"Bros...? Master Splinter...?"

Mikey kept calling out to try and get someone to respond back to him, but he was still met with an empty silence after doing so.

After spending another half an hour searching and shouting out for his family and friends, Mikey collapsed onto his knees and took a moment to catch his breath.

"I don't get it…Why am I here…and all alone…?" He thought aloud to himself before he gasped at a horrifying theory.

"Am I…_dead_!?"

Mikey looked around the dark place once more before he shivered after noticing how cold the atmosphere was around him.

"That must be it…If I am here and…nobody else is with me, then…" As Mikey said this, tears of sadness filled his eyes before he lowered his head and allowed them to fall.

"I've failed…I really am…useless…everything I did…was it all for nothing…?" He said before closing his eyes with grief and sorrow in his heart.

_"You are wrong, young ninja…"_

Mikey opened his eyes and looked up quickly to try and find out where the voice was coming from before a soft glowing light suddenly appeared in front of him and manifested into a male human-like figure dressed in a ninja warrior outfit, and he was looking at Mikey with a warm smile.

"W-Who…are you…?" Mikey asked with a shaky voice due to feeling nervous about being near someone he never met before.

"There is nothing to fear, Michelangelo. I am Master Yoshi, the owner of your Master Splinter," the figure said in a kind tone. Mikey gasped and his eyes widened after he realised what he heard just now.

"Y-You're Master Yoshi...!? But wait a minute, how do you know my name?" He questioned the young master after he composed himself.

"I have been watching my friend Splinter, you and your brothers for many years as you grew to become ninja warriors yourselves, so I know all your names well," Master Yoshi explained whilst still wearing his warm smile.

Mikey nodded with understanding before he spoke. "Anyway…why did you say that I was wrong earlier?"

Master Yoshi slowly approached Mikey and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder before he spoke. "Young Michelangelo, you did not fail your loved ones and your actions saved them all."

"B-But if that's the case, h-how come I'm all alone in here? Am I…a ghost too!?" Mikey asked fearfully with tears developing in his eyes again.

"You are very much alive, young one. Right now, your physical body is in a healing slumber and your spirit is wandering in an area where everything is quiet and still due to the lack of activity that both your physical and spiritual self does not have at the moment because of the circumstances that you have been through," Master Yoshi answered whilst giving Mikey's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Mikey began to feel relieved after hearing that he was doing fine, but he still had a feeling in his heart that made him feel doubtful about something else that had been on his mind for some time. He looked at Master Yoshi and asked him an important question.

"Master Yoshi, do you think…my family really needs someone like me to come back to them?"

"What makes you say that, young one?" Master Yoshi asked Mikey with a raised eyebrow, showing Mikey that he was confused about why he asked him such a question.

"Well…I'm the youngest of us four turtle brothers and I feel that the things that I do for my family don't help them at all when it comes to being a ninja. I'm constantly told to grow up every time I talk about my favourite comics and games and they scold me whenever I try to uplift the negative emotions around everyone with my jokes and sarcasm. It's like I was made in this world to just make my family's lives more complicated since no-one wants to team up with me sometimes during missions and they would always avoid me by going in different directions when I ask them if they want to hang out with me," Mikey explained as his eyes were once again filled with sad tears before he continued on.

"My actions in the fight against Dark Fang were just one of the rare occasions where I did something useful for everyone that I care about, and I just don't feel appreciated for being myself. It's like…unless I'm someone other than myself, I'm useless to them. That's why I always question my purpose and role in helping to protect the family…"

By now, Mikey was in a heartbroken state with tears streaming down his face and he closed his eyes as he turned away from Master Yoshi to avoid humiliating himself in front of a great ninja warrior like him.

Master Yoshi was just standing in the same spot as he allowed Mikey's explanation sink in before he moved in front of where he turned his face and held out his hand before he spoke.

"Michelangelo, take my hand and close your eyes; I would like to show you something that will prove that you are more important than you really are to your loved ones…"

Mikey looked at Master Yoshi with watery eyes and then at his hand before he slowly reached and held it with his own and closed his eyes like he was told to.

Suddenly, a white light flashed in front of Mikey before he saw what looked to be a past event that he remembered from a while back;

_It showed Mikey and his brothers returning to the lair after their first adventure in the underground city. He watched on as he saw his past self being given sideways hugs and high-threes before being told by his brothers how grateful and proud they were when Mikey saved them from becoming the underground city's permanent residents._

_Then, another memory appeared in a white flash and it was when Mikey encountered and met his and his brothers' first mutant friend Leatherhead and they learned about how he first became a mutant and more about the utroms._

_Another memory came and it was Christmas Day when Mikey rescued and adopted a stray kitten, which he named Klunk, and he taught his friends and family about the true importance of Christmas after he stopped a van full of toys from being stolen and bringing happiness and joy to a group of orphans by dressing up as Santa Clause and elves._

_Another memory followed after that, and it was during the Triceraton invasion and Mikey was helping to steer a Triceraton ship with Raph and Leo to try and rescue Donnie from the Triceraton Leader and he successfully did so despite the difficulties in learning how to pilot the ship as well as helping them to stealthily enter the main ship without detection._

_Mikey then saw a memory of the day when he and his brothers were saving Donnie from his secondary mutation, where he saw himself reminding Leo that it was not about fighting Karai and that their brother came first, leading them to successfully gaining the cure from Agent Bishop after they gave him Karai's magic amulet in exchange for their brother's cure._

_Finally, the last memory showed the battle against Dark Fang, where he transformed into his dragon spirit avatar for the first time and fought with all his might to defeat him and protect his family at the same time to a point where he collapsed from exhaustion and his family was there for him._

When the last memory faded, Mikey gasped and opened his eyes after Master Yoshi told him to and he found himself back in the surrounding darkness as he was before. He then looked over at Master Yoshi.

"T-Those memories…they were…" Mikey stuttered as he spoke due to the shock of looking back at his past memories, but Master Yoshi smiled and released his hand from Mikey's before he spoke his words for him after he understood what he was trying to say.

"Those were your memories of when you were there for your family, especially your brothers. Do you see? They are proof of how important and useful you really are to them even as yourself."

"It…It really was me…I did those things…and I really did make them happy in the process ….and I did it…because I love them…so much…" Mikey said with a watery smile as he tried to wipe away his tears of joy that were falling from his eyes.

"Now you understand your true role as the Brother of Light," Master Yoshi said proudly to the young turtle.

"Brother of Light…yeah, that's right…it has a nice ring to it…" Mikey said with a nod before giving Master Yoshi a sunny smile.

Then, Master Yoshi's body began to glow and its visibility was slowly starting to become transparent.

"Master Yoshi? What's happening to you!?" Mikey said as he saw this going on in front of him.

"Ah…I'm afraid that it is time for me to go, Michelangelo...since your body is now almost ready to awaken from its healing slumber," Master Yoshi answered with a sad smile.

"R-Really…!? But will I see you again?" Mikey asked.

"I do not know for certain, but before I go, I need you to pass on a message for me," Master Yoshi said before his body began to fade a bit more.

"What is it?" Mikey asked urgently since he didn't want to waste any time.

"Tell Splinter and your brothers that a serious threat is upon them and to prepare themselves for it. Also, tell Splinter that I said 'hello' and that I am fine. Can you do that for me?" Master Yoshi said before the glowing light around him grew a little brighter.

"Yeah, I will. Thank you, Master Yoshi…" Mikey said before he bowed at the human ninja.

"You are welcome, Michelangelo… Farewell…" Those were his last words before Master Yoshi faded away completely and Mikey then shielded himself from being blinded by the glowing light in front of him, which grew bigger and shined throughout the darkness, before he heard a faint but familiar voice calling out his name.

"Mikey…?"


	16. Epilogue-Our Turtle of Light

Epilogue-Our Turtle of Light

Three days had passed since their return back to the temple, and the three older turtle brothers were still waiting anxiously for their baby brother to wake up from his healing slumber in their room whilst they thought back on the events that had transpired after their return.

They remembered their return back like it was yesterday, and Faragi was right when he said about how the Tribunal Masters would react to them coming back empty-handed because they were not happy one bit when they discovered that the acolytes came back without the Shredder's artefact.

/

_Flashback…_

_"What is the meaning of this!? Have you all forgotten that the whole world is at stake from the threat at hand!?" Master Chikara-Shisho roared with rage towards the acolytes._

_"We do, and we would do anything to stop the threat from occurring, but there was no way that we would just carry on in the mission with a team member who is seriously wounded and close to dying!" Leo said in defense for Mikey, who was on the stretcher behind the group and still fighting for his life. _

_"Fools! Your compassion for others will only slow you down and make you less focused on the mission at hand," Master Juto-Shisho said without any emotion coming from his voice._

_"That is right, you should have left Michelangelo to his death because you would have had a higher chance of completing the mission without him slowing you down. Besides, did you not say that he was a useless ninja who would only bring disaster to you all?" Chikara said spitefully without any remorse for what Mikey had to go through to protect his friends and family._

_This made the group, especially the turtles and Master Splinter, very angry and they stood their ground whilst Raph took a couple of steps before he spoke in a venomous tone._

_"Don't you DARE say dat about Mikey! You didn't see what he had ta do ta protect us from an army of demons and a giant shadow beast!"_

_"Yeah, he transformed into his dragon spirit avatar and battled against Dark Fang, the dark beast of the Twilight Realm!" Donnie said to back up Raph's argument before he heard the Tribunal Masters gasp in shock._

_"Dark Fang!?" Master Kon-Shisho said with wide eyes._

_"Impossible! No-one has ever battled Dark Fang and came back alive!" Chikara denied, her heart racing at a fast pace due to the shock of what she had just heard._

_"No, but Mikey did! And if it hadn't been for Mikey's bravery and his love for his family, we would have all been killed by those monsters!" Leo said before turning his head to look at his ailing little brother on the ground with a concerned look on his face._

_The Tribunal Masters looked at each other before Juto spoke. "Dark Fang was a powerful beast and he was known to be one of the Shredder's greatest minions. If he was there when you attempted to go and retrieve the artefact, then it was possible that he was trying to either get to it first or protect it from you."_

_"Yes, but now that he has been defeated, they will be nothing standing in your way in retrieving the artefact one more time! We would like to congratulate Michelangelo for his role in this once he is well again," Kon said in agreement._

_The acolytes, Master Splinter and the Ancient One looked at each other with wide eyes before they all looked at Mikey when they heard him groan weakly again from the discomfort and pain. Donnie knelt down and placed a hand on his brother's forehead before turning his head back towards the Tribunal Masters with a panicked look on his face._

_"He's getting worse! Please help him!" Donnie said with worry._

_"Take him back to your chambers, we will gather the necessary healing herbs you need and bring them to you! Hurry now, we sense that he is fading fast!" Chikara commanded firmly before she watched as the group headed towards their living chambers, with Adam and Raph carrying the stretcher with Mikey on it and going on ahead of them._

_End of Flashback…_

_/_

After they had finished their walk down Memory Lane, the turtles went back to watching over a still sleeping Mikey, who was now thankfully on the mend; it was shortly after the acolytes settled Mikey into his bed when the Tribunal Masters brought them the healing herbs and bandages they needed to fully treat his wounds and burning fever.

When Donnie checked Mikey's temperature with his hand again, he looked at his older brothers with a smile and a sigh of relief.

"His fever's finally broken…He's going to be ok now, guys!" He said as joyful tears began to appear in his eyes, but they didn't fall.

"That's great to hear, Donnie. Now he just needs to wake up from his healing sleep," Leo said with relief in his voice whilst he looked at Mikey with a sad smile.

"Yeah, cos I'm getting tired of waitin' fa him ta open his eyes again," Raph said in agreement with slight frustration but worry in his tone of voice before he placed his hand in one of Mikey's and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Do not worry, my sons, Michelangelo will awaken when he is ready. I will go and make some tea to help calm our minds," Master Splinter said before he got up from his sitting place and left the room to get the much-needed tea for him and his sons.

After seeing him leave, Leo and his brothers turned back to look at their baby brother to watch over him again before he spoke.

"We've definitely been doubting our little brother too much, haven't we?" He saw his brothers look at him and then at each other before Donnie spoke next.

"You're right, Leo; we all made Mikey feel like he wasn't important or useful to us as a brother or a ninja…"

"Yeah, and I just made it worse fa him by making everyone turn against him days ago. I should be da one in bed sick and wounded, not Mikey!" Raph hissed in frustration and regret for his part in making Mikey feel so down lately.

"Raph, it's ok… We all played a part in this, but we are now learning to correct the mistakes we made on our brother in the past by focusing on making it up to him in the present," Leo said kindly to his red-banded brother as he placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

"And we are doing that now by supporting Mikey in his recovery," Donnie said with a warm smile to support what Leo had just said.

Raph looked at Leo and then at Donnie before giving them a smile of his own after realising that things would be ok now and they would be there to support and appreciate Mikey more from now on.

"Ya right…thanks, bros…" He said before he gasped as he felt a firm twitch coming from Mikey's hand which he was holding.

"Mikey…?" He looked at Mikey to see his eyes twitch, meaning that he was trying really hard to open them.

Leo and Donnie followed Raph's lead and saw for themselves that Mikey was starting to come around.

"Mikey, can you hear me?" Leo said softly but loud enough for Mikey to hear, and he was given a groan as a response, so Leo placed his hand in Mikey's other hand for support.

"It's ok, Mikey, open your eyes…" Donnie said in a gentle tone before placing a hand on Mikey's forehead for comfort.

A moment later, Mikey's eyes slowly began to open and his head moved slightly from side to side as he groaned again during the process.

"That's it, bro…You can do it…" Raph said softly before giving his brother's hand another squeeze.

Soon, Mikey's eyes were fully opened before they narrowed a bit to try and get his vision to become clear again before he smiled weakly after seeing his three older brothers looking down at him.

"H-Hey, b-bros…" Mikey said with a raspy, tired voice due to the lack of use and dehydration.

"Mikey!" His brothers cheered with tears of happiness in their eyes as they watched their little brother wake up fully for the first time after so long since they came back.

"How are you feeling, little brother?" Leo then said with a watery smile.

"T-Tired…and t-thirsty…" Mikey answered before he felt his head being slightly lifted up by Leo and a bowl full of water was placed in front of his lips, thanks to Raph.

"Here, bro, drink some water," Raph said before he watched Mikey open his mouth and accepted the water bowl.

"Drink it slowly, Mikey," Donnie told him before he watched Mikey start to drink it with his eyes closed as he enjoyed the cool and wet liquid that started to quench the extreme thirst that he was experiencing.

After a few gulps of water, Mikey exhaled in relief after his thirst was quenched before he felt his head being lowered back down onto his pillow and his body being tucked in more with his blanket by Leo.

"Are you in any pain at all?" Donnie asked Mikey with a hint of concern in his voice.

"A little…sore…and I don't feel…hot anymore…" Mikey managed to say after he realised that he wasn't as boiling hot as he was back then, before catching his breath due to his exhaustion.

"That's because your fever just broke not long ago, and your wounds are healing nicely thanks to the healing herbs that the Tribunal Masters gave us," Donnie explained whilst he patted his brother's head softly.

"I'm glad you're doing ok now, bro…" Raph said as he looked at his baby brother with a warm smile whilst stroking his hand with his thumb.

Mikey smiled at his red-banded brother. "Thanks, bro…I'm glad…you're all ok too."

"Well, it's thanks to you and your dragon avatar that we all made it back to the boat in one piece, but you had us all worried when you lost consciousness as your health worsened…" Donnie said with a sigh.

"Yeah, and you've been asleep for three days straight after you passed out on us on the boat…" Leo said before he saw Mikey's eyes widen even more when he heard this.

"Seriously…!?" He said in a surprised tone before seeing his blue-banded brother nod with a sad smile. "Oh, shell…I-I'm so sorry, dudes…I tried…to be strong…but I guess…I wasn't…" Mikey's eyes began to water after he said this.

"Hey, hey…that's not true! You stayed strong through it all, Mikey…None of us thought that you were weak!" Leo said in a firm but comforting tone whilst he wiped away the tears from Mikey's eyes with his thumb.

"That's right, bro! You have proven to us that you are a great ninja and an amazing little brother! _We're _the one who should be apologising to _you _for doubting you and making you feel like you can't do anything right for us…" Donnie said firmly with a hint of guilt because of the way he and his older brothers treated Mikey in the past.

"Yeah, Mike! Look, ya may be a pain in da shell at times, but we will always love ya cos your light helps ta brighten up our day even when we're feeling down, and you were awesome during dat fight against Dark Fang when ya became a dragon ya self ta beat him," Raph said with a smirk and his brothers nodded in agreement.

Mikey was stunned; he didn't expect to hear such positive things about him from his brothers, especially Raph who rarely says stuff like this. It seems that Master Yoshi was right about his role and purpose after all…

Speaking of which, he snapped out of his thoughts after he remembered Master Yoshi's message given to him and his family and looked at his brothers before giving them all a smile as he spoke.

"Thanks, bros…By the way, where's…Master Splinter?"

"He left not long ago to get some tea for us. He should be-"

"I am here now, my sons," Master Splinter had cut Leo off as he entered back into their room with the Ancient One whilst carrying a tray full of cups and a steaming teapot, and they both smiled in relief when they saw Mikey awake and looking at them with tired eyes. Master Splinter set the tray down on the table not far from where his sons were gathered and headed towards Mikey.

"Michelangelo…thank goodness you are awake. How are you, my son?" He said with tears developing in his eyes as he placed a comforting hand on his son's head.

"I'm ok, master… there's something…I need to tell you…to all of you actually," Mikey said as he looked from Master Splinter to his brothers.

"What is it, my son?" Master Splinter asked as he leaned in a little closer to listen to Mikey properly, with his sons doing the same.

"I have a message…to give you all…especially you, master…" Mikey answered.

"A message…? From who, Mikey?" Leo asked with a raised eyebrow, thinking about who would ask his little brother to complete such a task.

"…From Master Yoshi…" Mikey answered his blue-banded brother before developing a warm smile on his face.

Everyone gasped and their eyes widened after hearing that name. Master Splinter couldn't believe his ears; his youngest son was visited by his late Master Yoshi during his healing slumber and was given a request by him to pass on a message to him and his family. Master Splinter was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Donnie speak.

"What did he say, Mikey?"

"He said…there is a serious threat upon us…and we need to be fully prepared for it…" Mikey said with a serious look on his face before he softened and looked at his father as he continued. "And master…he wanted to say 'hello' to you…and to let you know…that he is fine…" Mikey answered tiredly before he worked to catch his breath from talking too long.

Master Splinter looked at Mikey in awe after he heard the personal message that his late Master passed on to his son to give to him before he let his tears fall and then leaned in closer to nuzzle his nose onto his son's head.

"Thank you so much, my son…for passing my late Master's message onto us…" He choked up as he worked hard to maintain his composure despite his tears continuously falling from his eyes like a waterfall.

"Yes, thank you, Michelangelo…It is good to hear that Master Yoshi's spirit is still going strong and watching over us," the Ancient One said in agreement.

"Yeah, thanks, little brother…" Leo said before he placed a gentle hand on Mikey's uninjured shoulder whilst his other brothers nodded with a 'thank you' towards their little brother.

"No worries…guys…" Mikey said with a tired smile before he stifled a yawn and his eyes began to droop heavily.

"Looks like someone needs some more sleep," Donnie said gently with a chuckle.

"B-But…I just…woke up…a-and…the Tribunal…" Mikey said anxiously before he was cut off by Leo.

"Calm down, Mikey…we're not going anywhere until you're fully recovered, and the Tribunal Masters have agreed with us too by allowing you to rest for as long as you need as a way of thanking you for giving us a better chance in retrieving the artefact without any more problems."

Mikey didn't know what to say after he heard what Leo said about the Tribunal Masters' decision to let him rest instead of training straight after waking up before he heard his other brothers speak.

"Yeah I know, hard ta believe, right?" Raph said with a smirk.

"It's thanks to Faragi and the other acolytes for the Masters' decision; they refused to do any training until they were reassured that you were given more time to recover from your wounds," Donnie explained with a proud smile.

"Wow…tell them…I said thanks…for me…please…?" Mikey asked his brothers before he yawned again.

"We will, Mikey, and we'll let them know that you're now doing ok," Leo said softly before he gave his brother a gentle hug.

"Ya did good, bro... I'll see ya when ya wake up later, ok?" Raph said before he gave Mikey's hand one more squeeze and then tucked him in with the blanket once more.

"We love you, Mikey…sleep well," Donnie said softly before he leaned in closer to place a kiss on his forehead.

"I am so proud of you, my son; you have shown us great strength and bravery, and your spirit's light has shined even brighter than ever before," Master Splinter said proudly before he gave his son a kiss on his cheek. "Now, rest…"

"Thanks, guys…love you too…" Mikey whispered before his eyes closed fully and fell asleep instantly, still wearing a small smile on his face.

Everyone smiled warmly and proudly at the sleeping turtle and, one-by-one, they placed a gentle hand on his chest before Leo spoke first.

"Thank you for saving us, Mikey…"

"And for being there for us when you're needed most…" Donnie said next.

"And fa bringing happiness and fun into our lives…" Raph said afterward.

"Indeed…you truly are our turtle of light…" Master Splinter said proudly.

A moment later, they slowly removed their hands from Mikey's chest and the Ancient One passed each of them a cup full of herbal tea before Leo raised his cup to begin a quiet toast since Mikey was sleeping peacefully.

"Here's to Mikey; our brother, ninja, and also...our dragon of light!"

"Cheers!" Everyone said quietly in unison with their cups in the air before they began to drink their tea whilst watching their brother with proud smiles on their faces.

The End.


End file.
